Traveling from Dreams to Reality
by gameboy3
Summary: A boy with an interesting ability has gained the attention of Yukari Yakumo. Acting on her interest, she heads to the Outside World to see if he is as interesting as he appears. Since he already shows potential, he should be okay... Right?
1. Dream Walker

**[Author's notes]: My first story. Don't expect something amazing. After reading some other fanfics for Touhou (including, but not limited to: Average Joe in Bullet Hell, Touhou Chronicles, and Dawitsu's Folly), I decided to try writing my own. The story takes place after UFO, but before TD, so expect my OC (technically me, but who really cares?) to get involved in it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Touhou girls, Gensokyo, or anything related to Gensokyo and the games. They belong to the solo member of Team Shanghai Alice, ZUN. The only things I own are the OCs that I might make.**

Traveling from Dreams to Reality

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><p><em>Michigan, United States<em>

With nothing but a 3 foot long plastic staff with a fake golden ball (connecting the ball and staff was 6 inches of plastic gold) on top I had gotten for a Halloween costume to fight with, I faced down my enemy. I didn't allow someone to try and eat me that easily. Both of us were tired from fighting for so long… I was having trouble watching the danmaku she used against me, and she was having trouble firing danmaku to strike me down. Aiming to finish the fight with one last blow, I charged her, raising my staff to strike. Just before impact, everything vanished…

A boy with long, brown hair that reaches to his waist got out of his bed. With brown eyes and a slightly skinny build, he looked around for the staff he was using in his dream. That boy would be me. I don't have any truly defining features. Nothing about my appearance really lets me stand out. What makes me stand out is my personality. I can also be creative, if I feel like it… That's just so annoying though, to wake up like that… Never being able to finish a dream…

**Sigh**

"50… 50 successive dreams about Gensokyo, and I haven't had any contact with the series for almost 2 months… Why won't they stop? …Actually, it doesn't matter… It's not like I'll ever end up in a place like Gensokyo, since there's a border in the way…" I dressed in a solid black shirt with dark blue jeans, before grabbing the staff and heading for my backyard.

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><p><em>Mayohiga, Gensokyo<em>

"Ran? RAN!" A voice called through the western style house, echoing throughout the building. The voice belonged to a woman wearing a pink and purple dress, with golden eyes and long blonde hair in a mob cap. She waited for her shikigami to show up. Yukari Yakumo didn't have to wait long: Her 9 tailed kitsune showed up only a few seconds after being summoned. Wearing a blue and white dress similar to Yukari's, she also wore a hat with 2 tails covered in amulets. She had blonde hair and yellow eyes.

"What is it, Yukari-sama?" Ran questioned Yukari, expecting her to order her to do more chores.

"I'm going to the Outside World for a while. Expect some company when I come back.

"Wait, you're leaving? Is something wrong?" Ran didn't expect Yukari to do something like this. She was rarely active at this time, so seeing her becoming so active so suddenly unnerved her.

"Nothing's wrong. Just a human who caught my attention."

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><p><em>Michigan, United States<em>

Holding onto the bottom end of the staff, I swung it at the ground as hard as I could as I declared the attack. "Golden Hammer!"

The plastic ball on the staff left a decent dent in the ground from the impact. Respectable, since the dent in the ground was at least triple the size of the little ball.

"I don't know how I do better when calling my attacks, but this is- WHAT THE HELL?" I freaked out when a Gap opened up right in front of me where the dent used to be.

"So you're the human who's been showing such interesting abilities…" She looked me over several times, and I was getting unnerved that she was looking me over so critically. "How is it that you have such an interesting ability, when you yourself have nothing worth mentioning?"

"W-what's that supposed to mean, you…" Stopping myself, I remembered the death flags for some of the Touhou characters. Yukari's was calling her an old hag.

"Nothing, nothing… Since you have such an interesting ability, show me what you're capable of!"

I was startled. Having no known ability, I was just challenged to a Spell Card duel… Without a single spell card for myself. How am I supposed to win against someone like her?

"Let me see if I have this right… I was just challenged by a technical god to a Spell Card duel, without any spell cards of my own and having no idea on what my ability is. Am I mistaken somewhere?"

Yukari grinned at me. "What are you talking about? You already have 5 spell cards, and you can use your ability. You just haven't realized it yet!"

I was at a loss for words. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. Nothing like this should happen to a teenage boy. "A-alright… If you say so… What happens if I'm… Worthy…?"

"I take you with me, of course! Why else would I come here?"

"And… If I'm not?"

Yukari's voice lacked emotion. "You don't need to worry about that."

I wasn't scared anymore. I was terrified. Unless I was severely mistaken, Yukari would kill me if I wasn't 'worthy' enough to go with her.

"Let's begin."

No warning came. Yukari pulled out a fan and started shooting what appeared to be knives at me.

**Dash**

I shouldn't have been able to do that, but I did… I just sidestepped a near solid wall of knives in just a few seconds… Even sprinting, I would have barely gotten out of the way in time, but there was plenty of space between the wall and me.

"See? It's just as I said. Now to start for real!"

I felt a slight shift in my mind. My normally peaceful attitude was replaced slightly by a more violent and battle ready mindset. Now wielding my plastic staff at the middle with my right hand, I pointed it at Yukari. "Yes… Let's begin, Yukari."

"Before we begin… You'll need these. Good luck using them." Yukari smiled.

A card appeared in front of me, followed by 4 more.

The first card showed a picture of a hammer being brought down on a tree, destroying it completely. Below the picture was a name: _Combat sign "Golden Hammer"_

The second showed a boy overpowering a full grown bear: _Specialist "Bear"_

A third showed the golden end of the staff being used to send a large rock at the attacker; below that was a picture of two swordsmen, one being parried by the other: _Specialist "Tiger"_

Fourth was a boy releasing fire from the bottom end of a golden tipped staff: _Specialist "Dragon"_

Last was a man being thrown into the air: _Specialist "Eagle"_

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><p><strong>And that's it. The end of the first chapter. Nothing fancy, really. Just introducing myself in an unusual fashion, before the battle (what?) between me and Yukari starts. Since I'd rather stick to canon, and not widespread fanon, tell me if I'm going too OOC with any characters in the story, and include what I can do to correct the issue. Also point out any spellinggrammar errors that you notice (if you want to bother spending your review doing that.)**

**I'd also like it if you reviewed my story so far. It gives me an idea of how I'm doing. Some suggestions on what I should do (minor things really, like when characters should show up. Nothing that really influences the plot though.) would also be nice.**

**One last thing: I'm not certain if the spell cards warrant placing it in a crossover with _Red Steel_. The spell cards are based on the game, but that's basically the only thing from _Red Steel_, so I'm not sure if I need to include it as a crossover or not. It'd be preferable if you could tell me.**


	2. Duel, Complete with Tea and Practice

**[Author's notes]: I'm surprised I typed up this chapter so easily...**

**The battle (again, what?) against Yukari finally begins! Will I survive the ordeal, or will Yukari find someone else to take with her to Gensokyo?**

**…Hell if I know. (Wait, I should know. I'm just going to feign ignorance about knowing)**

**Also worth mentioning, Spell Card duels will be done like SWR and UNL, but some residents might use spell cards that are completely Bullet Hell. Don't worry, the protagonist(s) will live.**

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><p>Duel, Complete with Tea and Practice<p>

_Michigan, United States_

"So these are the spell cards… They seem familiar…" I was about to pocket the cards, but then I realized that I might need them quickly. Feeling clever, I set them on my arms, and remarkably, they stuck. On my left arm are the cards _Dragon_ and _Tiger. _On my right, _Bear, Golden Hammer, _and _Eagle_.

"Of course they seem familiar. You've been practicing them for a month already."

"We can repeat spell cards as needed, right?"

"Only until they break, if they use magic. Some people can repeat spell cards as much as they want if the card relies on physical strength. Are you ready to start, or do you have any other questions?"

Shifting the grip on my staff so that my left hand also held on to the bottom of the staff, I wielded it like a spear, golden end pointed at Yukari. "I'm ready to begin."

Yukari simply stepped out of her Gap, and pulled out an parasol and a folding fan. After a few moments, she fired several more of those knives at me. Instinctively, I started spinning the staff at high speeds. "_Specialist_:_Tiger_!"

The knives bounced off of the staff as I spun it in front of my right hand. Interestingly, I wasn't touching the staff: it seemed to be spinning on its own. I noticed what was actually happening to the knives soon after.

"_Ride the Waves_!" Yukari called out as the knives flew back towards her. The knives fell into a black Gap that led somewhere… I had accidentally sent the knives back at Yukari by using _Tiger_, it seems… Good for me, since I have no danmaku of my own… Do I? Regardless…

**Dash**

I closed the distance between Yukari and me, and swung my staff at her side, right hand sliding down the staff to the bottom of the staff. Yukari was quick to react, blocking my blow with her parasol. Both of us were holding what we had like true weapons. "_Specialist_:_Bear__._" Pulling back, I threw a punch at Yukari, who sidestepped my swing.

**Crack**

"OW!" I yelped from the attack. Yukari had just struck me in the head with her parasol. "Son of a bitch, that hurt… Huh? HOLY-" I leapt away from where I was when I saw what Yukari was about to do.

"_Fight the Ocean_!" A white Gap opened, and several orbs of light fell out to strike me down.

I didn't even try to defend myself against the orbs. I just ran as fast as I could to escape the orbs. "This is ridiculous!" Leaping to my side, I reversed the grip on my staff so that I was holding it like a rifle, golden ball resting on my face, just below my left eye. I used my left hand to aim while running. Once I believed I would hit her upon firing, I leaped, twisted to my side, and declared my attack. "_Specialist_:_Dragon__._"

An orb of blue and silver fired from the base of my staff, heading straight for the Gap Youkai. I was astonished at the fact that the orb was as large as I was. 6 feet in diameter, it was impressive that I had such a powerful technique already.

"See? You are capable of using your ability!" Yukari called out to me, before stepping to the side to avoid my attack. "Also, don't forget about what's to your left."

"Huh?"

**KREEEEEESH! (Or it could be what you think the sfx for Touhou SWR/UNL KO sounds like)**

"Ow…" I still held consciousness, but I was too weak to get up properly without using my staff. I looked to see where Yukari was, and I couldn't believe what I saw: She barely moved from her spot when the battle began. Typical… She was just toying with me, and completely slaughtered me. Then again, she is a technical god, since she controls all boundaries…

"To remain conscious after that… You really are worthy of coming with me! Come along now, there are some people I'd like for you to meet."

"Ugh… How long did I last…?"

"2 minutes, at best."

"…You're joking, right? …Don't answer that. I don't want to know."

Yukari opened a Gap, and stepped into it. Using my staff for support, I followed her into the Gap.

* * *

><p><em>Mayohiga, Gensokyo<em>

"Ran! I'm back with a guest!"

I looked around for the kitsune that would soon show up. I had no idea how Yukari got this house, but I decided against it. It's not like I was involved…

"Coming!" Ran called down the stairs. Soon afterward, the kitsune was walking down the stairs, carrying a tray for tea.

"Thank you Ran." She gestured to me. "This is my guest…" She stopped and looked to me. "You never told me your name. What is it?"

"You can just call me Kris. Everyone else does… Did" I respond calmly, already bored from having nothing to do. Talking is not something I enjoy that much.

"At least you realize you're not leaving Gensokyo. Don't bother trying, because-"

"There's a boundary separating Gensokyo from the rest of the world. I know Touhou, if you haven't noticed."

**Crack**

I whined at being hit so suddenly. "Son of a bitch! What was that for?"

"It's rude to interrupt someone."

"So you hit me over the head with your parasol? Where's the logic in that?"

"You needed to be disciplined."

"I'm not even one of your shikigami!"

Yukari didn't respond. She just stared at me. After several minutes of silence, I eventually averted my gaze. "S… Sorry…"

"Don't let it happen again."

"Yukari-sama, shouldn't you be kinder to your guest?"

"I guess I should. Anyway…" Yukari turned to face me, "Since you're here, you might as well get used to Gensokyo, right? It would be good for you to practice your spell cards, and to experiment with them."

"Maybe I will… Where should I go to practice them?"

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><p><em>Hakurei Shrine<em>

A shrine maiden dressed in red and white dress with detached sleeves checked the donation box. She had raven black hair and brown eyes capable of seeing boundaries. In her left hand was a gohei that she used to fight.

"Empty again… Why do I bother checking for donations? It's not like anybody ever gives donations in the first place…"

Reimu Hakurei had checked her donation box again, only to find it empty, as it always was. She was still waiting for a donation that wasn't given as a result of her solving an incident.

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><p><em>Scarlet Devil Mansion<em>

"Zzz…"

A youkai dressed in a green Chinese dress with red hair was asleep near the gate. Meiling, the guard, was bored, and fell asleep as a result of nothing happening for so long. Suddenly, she felt a presence in the area near the gate.

"Zzz… Huh?" Meiling stood up to greet the man who had appeared. He held no weapons, but continued walking towards her. "What are you doing here?" Meiling questioned the man.

"Your name is Meiling, correct?"

"It is, why?"

"I have come to challenge you. 5 minutes, no spell cards, no danmaku, and no flying. I wish to see how good I am at fighting."

The Chinese girl considered this for a moment, before accepting to the terms. Pulling out a coin, she flipped it into the air.

It was a silent understanding: The duel begins when the coin hits the ground.

**Dash**

The man reacted first, trying to land the first blow, but instead was brought down by a single roundhouse kick.

**Whack**

"Aaaaaah! I need to get out of here!" The man panicked and fled the area in the direction of the Human Village.

"Wait, sir, your… Where'd his cloak go?"

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><p><em>Mayohiga, 5 days later<em>

"Kris, I just remembered, I have a cloak for you!" Yukari called out from somewhere… I still haven't figured out how to move around this house properly without someone guiding me.

"Sorry Yukari, I don't know how to get to… Wherever you are!"

**Gap**

"Oh, is this it? I like it already… Black on the outside, lots of pockets on the inside, and… It fits! Thanks Yukari."

"Now, show me what you've been practicing."

"Alright… I'll start with _Bear_…"

I discovered that my spell cards work very well together in combos. I could go from _Bear_ to _Tiger_ to send large projectiles at my opponents, or go from _Bear_ to _Eagle_ to launch my opponent wherever I please. Even better since my techniques leave an Aura signature on them to prevent them from flying for a short while…

**Stomp**

A large rock appeared in front of me, and I punched it with enough force to break the rock in a single blow.

"Impressive… Another card?"

"Alright… _Combat sign_: _Golden Hammer_."

Instead of swinging the staff down to dent the ground in front of me, I spun the staff in my right hand, holding it like a javelin. Aiming for a target across the room, I threw the staff at it as hard as I could.

**Crack**

The stone target was no more. It was shattered by my javelin/spell card/staff thing. Now to just call it back, and…

**Whack**

"Ow… I really need to work on calling it back properly…"

"You can use Aura effectively, it seems."

"I can, but I still can't call my staff back without getting hit where you hit me with your parasol… Twice. Still, to think I'm capable of manipulating what keeps my Auma stable… Truly a unique gift, but very dangerous if misused…"

"Right. I think it's time for you to go now. You have everything you need, correct?"

"I do. I can effectively use my spell cards, and know what I'm doing if I get in a fight, based on your comments, as well as use Aura effectively."

"What about flying? Can you recreate that in any way?"

"Sort of, but it's really unusual."

"Oh really? How so?"

"You'll need to trust me with this, but fire a laser at me so I can show you."

"Okay, but don't complain when you get hurt."

Firing a small laser at me as large as my staff, I jumped, not over it, but on top of it. Aura covered my feet, allowing me to stand on the laser.

"How are you…?"

"It turns out… I can walk on magic."

"Interesting… Where did you say you wanted to go?"

"Hmm… Take me to the Forest of Magic. I want to meet one of the Incident Resolution Specialists…"

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><p><strong>There you have it. Another chapter for my story. Before I say anything else, there will be other OCs in the story, but they won't be as friendly as me. They're going to pull something big, ridiculous, and chaotic. I'm not much better, to be honest, but at least I won't put Gensokyo at risk…<strong>


	3. Aria of Forbidden Magic Team

**[Author's notes]: I just realized that I didn't include any details about what Aura and Auma was at the end of the last chapter. I'll talk about what I think those are here.**

**Aura is what the body releases. Unlike heat, most people can't sense it. It can be used to perform magic, but the specific types of magic available vary from types of Aura. The three types of classification for Aura are: Coverage (outline on the person, or enveloping them), Color (self-explanatory), and Activity (solid stream from the body, or a pulsing Aura). Using Aura is dangerous: if it gets too unstable from overuse, it can turn the magic you use against you, and even force you to draw on your Auma.**

**Auma is your life force. Without it, you're dead. Drawing on it gives the user incredible power, but using it for a few minutes is the same as living for a few decades. If used like Aura, the cost is the same, but the benefit is much lower. As such, most people who can use Aura never push their Auras too far. People constantly release Auma, which creates Aura for them to use.**

**Notice: I won't use Marisa's "ze" at the end of her sentences. To my knowledge, her doing that isn't canon. If you want to read it that way, go ahead, but I'm not typing that out.**

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><p>Aria of Forbidden Magic Team<p>

_Forest of Magic_

**Gap**

"Thanks for the food, Yukari, and the cloak." I spoke to the Gap in front of me after I walked through it to where I wanted to be: The Forest of Magic, right in front of… Who's house am I in front of? Eh, I'll take my chances with it. What's the worst that could-

**Rustle**

"Huh?" Pulling my staff out of my cloak, I held the middle in my right hand, ready to shift the grip to hold it like a spear again.

**Rustle rustle**

Out of the leaves came… A doll? I got worked up over a DOLL? I can't believe I've gotten so paranoid that I reacted this way over a doll…

**Poke**

"Ow! Watch where you're…" Turning around, the anger I just had at being poked faded, along with the color in my face. In front of me were no less than 15 dolls, all armed with lances and ready to pierce my body with them.

"Is there any reason why you're here?" A girl with shoulder length blonde hair, dark green eyes questioned me. She wore a light blue dress with pink ribbons and a pink headband to match. In her hand was a black book bound in some sort of seal. On her left shoulder was a doll with blonde hair and blue eyes. In its hair was a pink bow, and it wore a black dress with a white apron.

"Um… W-well…" I was having trouble speaking to her, since the dolls were so close I couldn't think straight.

"I won't ask again. Why are you here?" Her fingers twitched, and the dolls near me moved closer.

"I… I just…" I was on the verge of panicking. Talking was the last thing on my mind.

"Yo, Alice, I found those mushrooms you wanted! Where's the book you promised me?"

Another girl showed up, this one having long, wavy blonde that reaches down halfway to her waist. Her eyes were yellow, much like her hair, and she wore a black dress and hat with a white-ish pink apron on the dress. Riding a broom, she landed in front of Alice's house before swinging her broom over her right shoulder while holding the top of it in her right hand. In her left hand were the mushrooms she was talking about.

"Marisa, I'll get your book for you after I deal with… Where'd she go?"

"Hehehe… She must be a thief if she can move that quietly!"

Marisa had a point. I actually do pocket things from time to time without anyone noticing. I can move silently, but since that doesn't really help in fighting, I can only use it to run… Or am I able to use this to my advantage now?

"She must be dangerous too. Based on what I felt, she's powerful."

"Is that why you looked ready to skewer her?"

"Actually, yes. She might have been after my Grimoire, and I won't let anyone steal it. The secrets belong to me, and me alone."

"What if she came here for a different reason though? You're not exactly the best at judging someone quickly."

I then did what I later considered the riskiest and most foolish thing I have done to date. From the roof of Alice's house, where I was hiding, I leaped…

"What the hell?"

"Where did you come from?"

…Right in front of Alice and Marisa.

"Alright, let me clear some things up." I turned to Alice to address her. "First, I didn't come to steal your… Grimoire… Second, I'm not a girl. I'm a boy. What made you think I was a girl anyway?"

Alice was slightly surprised at being proven wrong not once, but twice. "I… I j-just thought that… You were going to steal my Grimoire because… You were so silent… And you had an aura of power around you, so I thought you could read it… I never knew there were males with true fighting experience in Gensokyo…"

"Well, I don't really blame you for being wrong on the second part. I just got here, so I'm not well known in Gensokyo yet. Though, I see no reason as to why I would try to read your Grimoire. From what I've heard of it… I'd rather not read it."

"Wait, Alice said you were powerful? How powerful are you?"

I pondered for a moment on that question. I had power yes, but… How much power? I guess there's only one way to find out…

"Would you like to see a demonstration?"

Both of them were interested to see what my ability was, as well as how well I could use it. "Yes!"

"You don't need to sound so excited…" I pulled out my staff, and held it like a spear, pointing it at a tree.

"That's what you use? How do you use something like that for a weapon?" Alice was genuinely curious as to how I used a plastic staff as a weapon, but behind her, Marisa was laughing as if what I pulled out was a joke.

"Alice… Step aside, please…" Turning around, I pointed the staff at Marisa. Deciding on which spell card to use, I flipped the staff and held it like a rifle, plastic gold ball resting below my left eye. "A certain someone needs to learn a lesson about appearances."

Alice stepped to the side, well out of range of _Dragon_. Knowing she was safe from the attack, I called out my spell card. "_Specialist_: _Dragon_."

"Hahaha- Huh?"

The spot Marisa was standing quickly became consumed by Blue/Silver Aura. "Maybe next time you won't take something like my staff so lightly."

"Maybe you shouldn't take me so lightly either."

"Oh crap…" Looking to my right, I saw Marisa standing about 5 feet away, Mini-Hakkero aimed at my face.

"_Love sign…_"

"_Specialist_: _Bear_."

**Jump**

"_Master Spark_!"

**FOOOOOOOSH**

"I hope this doesn't fail… Please don't fail…!" Landing on the Spark, I struggled to keep my balance on the giant laser. Suddenly, I heard Alice laughing.

"Marisa, he's using your Master Spark for a platform!"

"He's WHAT?"

"I'm not joking! He's standing on top of your Master Spark!"

Stopping her Master Spark, Marisa saw that Alice was right. I _was_ standing on the Master Spark.

"Damnit!"

Without a Master Spark to stand on, I fell flat on my face: A good 6 foot drop. Not something I wanted to happen.

"I'm not missing this time! _Love sign_: _Master Spark_!"

"_Specialist_: _Tiger_!"

**Ting**

"Holy-" I knew I could use _Tiger_ to redirect attacks, but blocking giant lasers? I didn't think that would work, to be honest. Too bad I'm still being pushed back… I hope Marisa ends her Spark soon… I can't keep this up for much longer with how fast I'm burning my Aura…

"Wow… He really is strong… Blocking a Master Spark is no small feat."

"You're joking, right? A few more seconds and my Aura would have burned out."

"What happens if it does?"

"Most likely case? I die."

Marisa and Alice just stared at me with blank expressions. They had no idea what the true purpose of Aura was…

"It was nice talking to the two of you, I guess… Which way to the Hakurei Shrine? I want to meet another Incident Resolution specialist…"

"You just head southeast of here, and you'll be able to reach the Shrine without any trouble."

"Nothing is that simple, Marisa."

"True. Expect a lot of fairies to hinder your progress."

**Sigh**

I figured as much… Maybe I should work on a spell card for traveling from place to place more quickly.

"OW!" What was that? I just felt something rip from my body, and… A spell card? I wasn't being serious there! How does this happen?

This card is interesting A boy walking through a door to wherever he chooses… So many possibilities… I'm going to have fun with this card… _Traveler_: _Dream Gate_

* * *

><p><strong>Amazing how I can do a chapter a day… Though that's not going to be happening for a while. I'm mostly only able to write the chapters on the weekends, so don't expect any updates until Friday.<strong>

**Also, I'm going to explain something right now: my newest spell card is meant for traveling, but can be used for combat purposes. However, nothing is simple for me. Ever. Wait for the next chapter and you'll see what I mean.**


	4. The Art of Borrowing

**[Author's notes]: Another spell card revealed, but it's different from the rest. You don't need to worry about the card now, but it will show up later.**

**Marisa will show up later in the story (sooner than you think, actually), and then I'll actually get started on an incident. The question is, who's will happen first?**

**Notice: If I'm using a POV that isn't my own, I'll give the location, followed by the POV of the person. I think it would be more convenient that way. I'll do it by saying the location followed by the person's name.**

* * *

><p>The Art of "Borrowing"<p>

_Forest of Magic_

"Annoying pests! Get out of my way already!"

Heading in the direction Marisa pointed out to me, I continued on through an onslaught of fairies. Shooting small bullets at me continuously, I simply sidestepped the attacks and sent the fairies flying with a swing from my staff. Bullets that I failed to sidestepped were countered with my Aura, though I preferred avoiding to use it, as I didn't want to accidentally break my Aura and access to spell cards.

"That's it, I'm tired of this… I'll get through this way… _Specialist_-"

**Crack**

"…Eh? Did you just…" I checked my staff, which just got hit by several bullets from the fairies. Several cracks were in the black plastic, and it felt unstable in my hand. While I can protect myself from the danmaku, my staff was another issue.

Now it's a useless accessory.

"Damn it all… _Specialist_: _Bear_." Grabbing the staff, I threw it as hard as I could at a fairy while moving for another fairy.

**Snap**

Sailing over my head was the top part of my staff. On the ground was an unconscious fairy.

"You're next, fairy."

Immediately, all the fairies turned to run, but I caught one of them by the arm.

"What are you doing? ! Let me go!"

The fairy I caught wore a solid blue dress. With long, auburn hair, she had small butterfly wings of a similar color to her dress. In my opinion… She was rather… Cute… Err… That's not the point though…

"I don't think so. Not without getting something first."

"W-what…! C-can't we… Settle this some other way? !"

…It seems that the fairy believes I have something painful in mind… She's in for a surprise… While I can be violent, I don't plan on hurting her… This time.

"…I'm going to make an offer. Refuse, you get hurt. Accept, and you'll be forgiven. Do you understand?"

"Yes…"

"Alright… Will you guide me through the Forest of Magic? I need to get somewhere, preferably before sunset."

"…That's your offer? You really mean it?"

"I mean it. To be honest, I actually… Um… Kind of like you…"

There. I said it. I like the fairy I caught.

**Giggle**

…Heh… She's blushing and giggling about it… I might have gotten a friend who'll stay with me for a while.

"Okay. Where do you want me to take you?"

"I'll need you to take me to two places. First… Could you take me to Marisa's house? I need something I can use in duels."

"Lucky you… That's not very far from here."

"I guess I am lucky… What's your name, by the way?"

"My name? It's Laurana…"

"Interesting… If we ever meet again, just know that my name is Kris."

* * *

><p><em>Forest of Magic: Marisa's house<em>

Folding up my cloak, I placed it by the door. An easy way to describe how messy Marisa's house is… My mom would freak out. For all I know, there could be a body buried under all this… Knowing Marisa, there's a slight chance there actually is a body.

"Tell me if you find a sword or a staff. Both would work with my spell cards… I think…"

"Okay."

Laurana was very helpful. She had warmed up to me after I introduced myself to her and showed such kindness to her, but the other fairies seemed nervous about approaching. Either I ended up scaring every fairy in the Forest of Magic, or Laurana was a fairy with a reputation. Regardless, I was able to safely travel through the Forest of Magic, and the fairies would guide me through.

"Kris, I found something!"

Traveling across the disaster zone known as Marisa's house, I eventually reached Laurana, and saw a katana in good condition. Two and a half feet long, the katana had a solid blue sheath. The katana itself seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've seen it…

"Thanks Laurana. You've been very helpful, even though you never needed to be."

I then acted on an impulse. While I'm normally a very reserved person who won't make direct contact with others, I still break from what I'm usually like from time to time. I doubt any fairy has had this happen to her…

I kissed Laurana.

"Kris…! What was…"

"S-sorry…! I acted on an impulse… It's a bit out of character…"

Blushing, I turned away from Laurana, belted the katana onto my waist, and started to walk towards the front door to get my cloak.

"Kris, wait."

"What?"

"You've shown me kindness, even after we attacked you. As such, I decided to allow you free passage through the Forest of Magic whenever you come. The other fairies will no longer bother you. If you ask for help, we will come."

"Thanks. That means a lot…"

Putting my cloak on, it appeared that I had no weapons on me. I then asked for Laurana to guide me to the Hakurei Shrine. She complied to what I asked without complaint. Nothing of interest happened for the rest of the journey to the Hakurei Shrine, other than running into Marisa, who was headed to her house.

* * *

><p><em>Forest of Magic: Marisa Kirisame<em>

That boy is either ignorant or brave to travel with that particular fairy. If she's trying to get him killed… He doesn't stand a chance… Wait… Why were they headed away from my house?

**Runs**

If they took something…

"If even one thing is missing… Kris, you'll suffer if you think you can steal from me and get away with it."

Alright, the books are there, the tools are there, the potions are there… Where is it? He couldn't have…

"No… DAMNIT KRIS! WHEN I FIND YOU, I'LL… I'll… I'll think of something later…"

Missing from the pile of scrap metal was a two and a half foot long katana: The same katana Rinnosuke identified as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine<em>

"Thanks Laurana. You were a great help. I'll try to remember to visit you from time to time… How will I find you?"

"Don't worry about that. The fairies will help you find me."

"What do you think you're doing here?"

The little red head let out a small cry and hid behind me, while I turned to see the Shrine Maiden of Paradise, Reimu.

"I was… I was just… Guiding Kris here… He wanted to visit the Hakurei Shrine…"

The fairy was terrified. From the looks of things, Reimu despised fairies.

I refuse to let Reimu attack Laurana.

Cloak hiding my movements, I moved my right arm across my body to grip my new katana. I'll give it back when I get a new sword, of course… But until then, I'm borrowing it without her permission…

Reimu was almost upon the fairy now. Time to make my move…

"Reimu, stop. The fairy has done nothing wrong."

Reimu stopped, surprised that I spoke in defense of the fairy and that I didn't sound like a girl, which she most likely assumed.

"You don't know this fairy… She called you Kris, right?"

"Yes, she did."

"Well, Kris… I'll have you know, that this fairy is actually very dangerous."

"I'll have you know, that she is perfectly safe to travel with."

"Kris, she guides people to their doom. She's evil!"

"If she were evil, then I wouldn't be here… If you're so intent on proving that you're right, why don't we settle this with a spell card duel? I have spell cards to work with…"

"You're going to regret challenging Gensokyo's finest. When I've beaten you, the fairy is next."

"You're first defeat is going to come from me. Tell me how it feels to lose after we're done."

* * *

><p><strong>I've really done it now. Place your bets on how long I'll last! Or, if you think I'll pull off defying Gensokyo's logic, bet that I'll win! Either way, expect some injuries, and for a bit of the plot to move forward… I'm not the only person who came to Gensokyo, after all…<strong>

**Also, I'm actually not as busy as I thought I would be. Things are working in my favor, so I might be able to update more often than I originally thought.**


	5. Deceptive Swordsman

**[Author's notes]: Well, the duel between Reimu and me is about to begin! Who will come up on top? Will I be overwhelmed by the Shrine Maiden's attacks, or will I think of some obscure strategy to defeat Reimu? Well, the truth is… No, I'm not telling you. You'll have to read on to figure that out.**

**I'll try to include the relative time of day from now on. Whenever the time moves on, I'll do a line break as if I were going to a new location.**

**Also, setting the terms for a duel is for if you want a way to win besides knocking your opponent unconscious or otherwise breaking their will to fight.**

* * *

><p>Deceptive Swordsman<p>

_Hakurei Shrine, sunset_

Within the darkness of my cloak, the sound of steel being drawn could be heard.

"Here's how we'll settle things, Reimu. You can use any and all spell cards available to you. You can fly as well. First to break 3 spell cards or interrupt 5 spell cards wins. You can also win by forcing the opponent to surrender or by knocking them unconscious. Do you accept?"

By the time I had finished setting the terms, I had fully drawn my katana, pointing the tip of the blade at the miko.

"Your words have sealed the fate of the fairy. I accept these terms."

My mind shifted again, once again ready to fight. My voice became quiet and loud at the same time.

"Begin."

As soon as I started running towards Reimu, she pulled out several amulets and threw them at me. Smiling, I cut them when they got close.

Only later did I realize that should have been impossible.

"Not that easy! _Specialist_: _Dragon_!"

Channeling Aura through my sword, I swung the blade at Reimu, releasing a large orb. As the orb of Aura fire flew to the Shrine Maiden of Paradise, I ran to the side, aiming to end the fight quickly.

"You're not much better Kris!"

I watched as Reimu leaped over the orb of energy. If this idea works, I can claim victory with ease. If I screw up… No… I can't lose. I won't let Reimu hurt Laurana.

"Where'd he go?"

Reimu scanned the area for me, but failed to notice the figure hiding in the darkness of the trees. Being skilled at keeping hidden is quite useful here, it seems…

"It seems your… Friend… Kris is a coward, fairy. I guess I'll have to punish you instead…"

Wait for it… Wait for it… There, her back is to me… Time to end this.

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine: Laurana<em>

He couldn't have… He abandoned me… There's no chance for me to escape, and I can't fight someone as strong as Reimu…

Even after all I did for him… He fled from the shrine maiden… And left me to suffer.

"R-Reimu… We can talk this over, right…? Right?"

"No, we can't. You know that you've been leading people to their deaths, and now that you're here… You will be punished…"

I don't have a choice… I have to run… It's only a matter of time before-

"_Specialist_: _Bear_."

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine: Reimu Hakurei<em>

That voice… Kris couldn't have snuck up on me so easily…

"Looks like it's over now."

"How did you-"

**Grab**

"Let me go!"

"Gladly."

"Hey, what are you-! Get off of me!"

I can't believe this… This kid has the boldness to throw me onto the ground and SIT on my back! When I get out of this, he's going to be in so much pain…!

"Surrender and I'll get off of you."

"I will not lose to someone like you! _Divine Spirit_-"

**Whack**

"Ow! What was that for?"

"One. Surrender now. You can't use spell cards without me interrupting them first, and that's your only option to attack, since you're pinned the ground…"

"You wish! _Divine Arts_-"

**Whack**

"Two. Don't make me have to knock you unconscious… I would really rather avoid doing that right now."

"Get off of me already! _Demon Sealing Dimen_-"

**Whack**

"I'm not joking Reimu. Give up already."

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine<em>

I have to say, the miko is stubborn as hell. Even after being pinned the ground, she still tries to fight. Does she not understand that she has no chance at escaping?

"_Instant Dimensional Rift_!"

**Whack**

"Fuck…"

Quickly, I was surrounded by blue amulets. Amulets used to create a duplicate of Reimu.

Overwhelmed by the barrage of amulets, I held on to my strength to the best of my ability.

"You're a rare annoyance, Kris. I'm going to need to make sure you don't try fighting me again, for a long time… _Fantasy Heaven_."

Well, I'm screwed… Wait… Not yet...

The orbs. They aren't lit yet. I just need to time out the duration of the card…

Or better yet, challenge Reimu to a melee duel.

"That shall be your undoing, Hakurei."

"Nothing stands against the power of _Fantasy Heaven_!"

Running to each other, sword soon clashed against gohei. In the sunset, one would assume that we were two swordsmen, fighting each other to further hone our own skills. Such was the skill of Reimu with her gohei. Surely, she had been trained in swordplay before… I only learned it through a game, but that game did have real sword techniques…

"I'm surprised you can use your gohei like a sword, Reimu. Who taught you swordplay?"

"I never needed to learn."

"Interesting. Being completely honest, I never really learned swordplay either."

Another idea came to me. Pulling out a bag of coins, I tossed it towards the donation box.

"Did you just…?"

Without even considering it, Reimu ran over to the donation box to check on the bag. When she pulled out the coins, her spell card ended, but she didn't notice.

"I can't believe it… This is the first time I received donations that weren't given for me solving an incident."

"Too bad for you, the duel is over."

"Huh?"

**Crack**

Using Reimu's gohei, I struck her in the side of the head as hard as I could. I didn't care much about knocking her out anymore… _Fantasy Heaven_ is NOT something I want to take chances with.

"Unh… You… Coward…"

"It's not cowardice. It's strategy. I used your weaker points to my advantage. It's not my fault you never receive donations, after all…"

"I won't… Lose… _Spirit Sign_-"

**Slap**

"I'm right next to you, you know… Four."

"Urgh… I… I surrender…"

"Alright… This means you can't hurt Laurana. Also… Um… Do you mind if Laurana and me… Stay at the Hakurei Shrine for a while?"

"You can stay for a few days… But that's it, and only because… You gave a donation…"

"Thanks Reimu."

I then felt like something was wrong. Without the adrenaline from the fight, I felt a lot weaker… I looked myself over, and panicked at what I saw.

My left arm was broken in three different spots. For probably half the battle, I was fighting with a broken arm, without even realizing it.

"What the hell? ! When did this happen? !"

Panic evident in my voice, I desperately needed a healing spell card. Then, in the midst of all the panic a voice gave me an idea: Why not just MAKE a spell card for this?

Focusing on my Auma, I tore off a piece, cutting off around seven years of my life. I then started giving shape to the card in my mind… Soon, my 7th spell card was formed: _Aura Sign_: _Esuna_."

Activating the card, my right hand glowed white, and I moved it over the spots where my arm was broken. After several minutes of readjusting my bones, I fixed up my arm enough so that it was safe to use it again. I hope I don't need to use Aura any time soon though… I'm spent… Again…

Maybe I should get some… Zzz…

**Thud**

* * *

><p><strong>There we go. I was originally planning on me winning simply by timing out all of Reimu's spell cards, but since I couldn't fly, that didn't seem feasible, so I changed to using deception and strategy to beat Reimu. Now, if you'll excuse me... I really need some sleep...<strong>


	6. Gateway to the Dreamscape

**[Author's notes]: I decided to start answering questions about the story if you have any. Feel free to ask me questions, and I'll respond to them in the beginning of the next chapter. However, questions won't be answered if they have spoilers in them.**

**Things are going to get a bit strange now… Time to move the plot forward a bit since I forgot to last chapter.**

* * *

><p>Gateway to the Dreamscape<p>

_Unknown location, unknown time_

I haven't been here for a long time… It looks familiar, but I can't quite place it… Wait… Inle…? The architecture, the catwalks, the darkness below… It is Inle! To be free of the recurring dreams of Gensokyo… I prefer Inle so much more.

_Inle, dreaming_

…Where is everybody? I don't remember Inle being abandoned… I better check to see what changed since my last dream chain.

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine, dusk, Laurana<em>

Kris actually defeated Reimu… He actually succeeded in doing what nobody else could…

**Smiles**

Kris is a good kid. I'm glad I didn't lead him to THAT location. I don't know if he would have survived or not, but…

I should probably put Kris into the shrine. He set it up for us, and I don't want to waste the opportunity to know the Red-White better…

* * *

><p><em>Inle, dreaming<em>

It really is abandoned… I really hope I don't have to dream up everything again… It was hard enough the first time.

**Sigh**

Maybe I should- WHOA!

Where did that thing come from? I never dreamed up a monster like that!

If only I had my staff… Since it's broken, I'm… Wait, no I'm not. I still have that katana. This is going to be a lot more interesting…

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine, Laurana<em>

There, he's in a futon in one of the guest rooms… Huh? A card? I wonder which one it is…

**Shift**

Kris seems a bit restless right now… Still, he shouldn't mind if I see what the card does.

"_Traveler_: _Dream Gate_."

…Nothing? This card is- Huh? W-where am I?

* * *

><p><em>Inle, dreaming<em>

That wasn't too bad… It put up a good fight. Still, I should stop playing Eternal Darkness so much… I never thought it would be so difficult to fight a Horror… Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.

**Step**

"Who's there?"

"Guardian of Dreams, you have returned… We have waited for 2 months for you… Ever since you disappeared…"

A boy of about my age showed up from behind me. Steadily, people were coming out of the spires and onto the catwalks connecting all the buildings to each other. High in the sky, the towers of the buildings stood above a sea of darkness. The buildings went into it, but the buildings were too large to be corrupted by this evil… I prefer dreams, but I still visit the nightmare parts of my mind from time to time… Because who wouldn't like to be part of a fight where they kick everything's ass when they're so severely outnumbered, it seems ridiculous to best them all?

"What happened? Why were you hiding?"

"Without your protection, Dream Guardian, the nightmares from the darkness rose into the land of dreams, seeking to corrupt it. But since you're here… We're saved, right?"

"I guess so… Though, I'm more surprised that the dream continued without me…"

"It's kind of hard to explain, actually…"

**Step**

Both of us reacting at the same time, we turned to see who approached. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Laurana.

"Laurana…? How did you get here?"

"Um… Well… I kind of used one of your spell cards…"

"Huh? Which card?"

In response to my question, Laurana pulled a card out of her sleeve and handed it to me.

"You used _Dream Gate_? Well, I guess I know what it does now. Wait… If this card takes people to my dream, than… Dreams are actual places, aren't they?"

"Actually, that's correct. The Dreamscape is an entire world where people temporarily become Dream Travelers themselves to live a secondary life and to give shape to new places. You however…"

In moments, the boy became that of an old man,. He now wore street clothes from where I lived: a red shirt with a picture of an eagle on it and some light blue jeans. Seeing the clothes on this old man seemed strange to me, but I made no comment.

"You have become a very rare thing. Few people ever connect to their Dream Traveler to the point where they can be called on when needed. You have become a Dream Guardian, a master of dreams whose duty is to prevent the nightmares from overtaking dreams."

"Is that why I always seem to have similar dreams night after night for weeks at a time?"

"That is correct. You don't connect to a different Dream Traveler every night. You connect to the same one, and now you are permanently bonded to him. He has your personality and mindset. You have his abilities and skills."

"Um… That's great and all, but how do I get back?"

How did I forget she was there?

"I have an idea… D-don't misunderstand what I'm going to do, okay…?"

Pulling Laurana close, I held her in my arms, before speaking softly.

"You'll be home soon… _Traveler_: _Dream Gate_."

When I looked at Laurana again, she was blushing furiously and trying to avoid looking into my eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine, midnight, Laurana<em>

I… I can't believe I acted that way when Kris pulled me close to him… Still, at least I'm back at the Shrine. I should get some sleep… I'm sure he won't mind if I pull my futon next to his…

"_Traveler_: _Dream Gate_."

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine, Reimu Hakurei<em>

Ugh… I still can't believe Kris managed to beat me… If he gloats about that tomorrow, he's going to regret it… 75, 76, 77... I can't believe he made such a large donation though… It seems so surreal… 85, 86, 87... 90,000 yen… Where did he get so much? He's from the Outside World… I should ask him tomorrow, but first, I need some sleep…

**Glance**

And where did Suika go off to?

* * *

><p><em>Bamboo Forest of the Lost, outside perspective<em>

The forest was quiet, with a lone girl with ridiculously long, silver/white hair, red overalls, and a faded white long-sleeve shirt wandering through the forest. Fujiwara no Mokou was busy making sure there weren't any humans in the forest, when she sensed something in the area. Before she could get a clear view of what the creature was, a wave of pure fear assaulted her. Stepping back from the creature, Mokou fled.

* * *

><p><em>Moriya Shrine, outside perspective<em>

A girl dressed as a shrine maiden with blue and white on was looking up at the stars. With green hair, a snake and frog clip in her hair, and dark green eyes. Sanae Kochiya enjoyed looking at the stars, and still remembered what it was like with her friends in the Outside World.

"I wish I could visit them from time to time… I almost wish I never had to leave for Gensokyo… Huh?"

A large shadow of another creature flew across the moon. It didn't stay in sight for very long, but the silhouette was unmistakable. It wasn't a human, or a youkai.

* * *

><p><em>Inle<em>

Something happened when I used _Dream Gate_… I don't know what, but something happened. I hope I didn't let anything through when I used the card… If nightmares reached Gensokyo, who knows what could happen? With all the weird creatures in my dreams and nightmares, I think spell card rules would have to be forsaken to fight them… Eh, more fun when your life is at risk.

Now to figure out why my mind seems to blank out when I have so much adrenaline…

"It's time, boy."

"It's the full moon already? I didn't know that."

"Draw."

Drawing my katana, I turned to face a familiar foe… The final boss in Red Steel 2, complete with a black katana sora that radiates pure corruption. This is going to be FUN...

* * *

><p><strong>No, I'm not going to include the fight. It's not part of the plot, and I already got it started. What are those creatures? Where did they come from? Well, the second question is obvious enough… Or is it? After all, nothing that radiates fear could have possibly kept itself hidden from Laurana and me… Right?<strong>

**Okay, the main reason I update so frequently is to make up for how short the chapters are. If I could write more in each chapter, I might not be updating so frequently, since the chapters would need more work.**


	7. Curse of the Meadow

**[Author's notes]: Well, I did get one person with a question, so I'll just answer his question before putting in my own things…**

**Metroid Life: I have to ask, is Yuuka or Elly going to show up at some point?**

**Answer: Both of them will show up, but if I'm not mistaken, the Garden of the Sun is a "gate" between Gensokyo and the Dream World. Therefore, I will meet them in Gensokyo, rather than in the Dreamscape.**

**Now, to answer some of Reimu's questions, and for me to ask some questions from Laurana on just who she is…**

* * *

><p>Curse of the Meadow<p>

_Hakurei Shrine, dawn_

Zzz…

**Thud**

"Huh?"

I've always been a light sleeper, so even the lighter sounds like a door being pushed open can wake me up, and… Laurana? Why is she in my futon…? !

…I don't think it'd be proper to just wake her up so she can let go… But I need to see what that sound was… I'm not taking any chances in Gensokyo. Maybe I can ease myself out of her arms…

"Unh…"

Maybe not. She's holding on even tighter now, and I barely moved. I guess all I can do is wait for her to wake up.

"Where did you get so much money? Did you finally break down and start stealing?"

Okay, someone's here… It sounds like they're in front of the shrine.

"I didn't steal anything, Marisa. Some kid from the Outside World showed up and gave donations."

"90,000 yen? What did you do to get such a donation?"

"…If you say ANYTHING, I'll knock you into next week. The reason I got the donation was because… It was a distraction… Used to defeat me…"

"Wait, an Outsider actually defeated you?"

"…It's not funny! My record for being unbeatable is gone because of him!"

"Hehehe… Wait, him?"

"Yes, him. His name is Kris."

"Kris? He's here? I'm getting my sword from that kid… Nobody steals from me! NOBODY!"

"What did he take?"

"Remember that sword Kourin identified as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi?"

"Yeah…"

"Kris stole it."

"You don't have much room to complain, since most of your stuff is stolen to begin with…"

By now, I had managed to wake Laurana up and get out of the futon. She decided to sleep a bit longer, while I was in the main room. Still, to have slept with Laurana… I don't even want to know what might be implied if anyone saw that…

"I don't steal things. I simply borrow things until I die."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Of course not! Why would you think it was?"

"How can you return something if you're dead?"

"You're acting like Komachi will get me as soon as I die. I'll have plenty of time once I'm dead to return everything."

"…Well, you can see if Kris is awake. After that, it's between you and him."

"Time to get my sword back then…"

"You are NOT damaging my shrine."

"Alright, I won't…"

Deciding it was better to avoid a potential fight with Marisa, I waited near the door as Reimu took Marisa to the guest room where Laurana apparently carried me. Once they went into the guest room, I snuck out, and climbed onto the roof.

"Zzz…"

Huh? What was… Oh, it's just Suika.

"Unh…"

She's trying to get up, and…

**Thud**

Well, I know where the noise came from now. Suika seems too drunk to get up.

I wonder what it's like to drink Sake…

"WHERE DID THAT THIEF GET OFF TO?"

What the hell?

**Thud**

Ow… That wasn't supposed to happen…

"Did you hear that?"

"That wasn't Suika…"

Crap. Now I'm in trouble.

"There you are."

And here's the witch…

"Hello Marisa…"

"Give back my sword."

I figured as much…

"Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"It's not your sword."

"Yes it is."

"It can't be. You're borrowing it, aren't you?"

"…"

Busted.

"Besides, I need it to fight. I can't use spell cards without it. If you want it back, you'll need to get me a new sword."

"Why do I have to get you a new sword?"

"Because I doubt I'll find one, and you know Gensokyo better than I do."

"Tsk… Fine… You better not be lying to me, or you'll see something much bigger than a _Master Spark_."

"I'll keep my word. If I get a new sword, I'll return this one to you."

With that, Marisa flew off on her broom… Where did she get the broom? She didn't have it a few seconds ago…

"Now you need to answer some questions, Kris. Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you get your powers?"

"O-okay…? I'm just a dreamer… My life focused on my dreams, and now I live in them. I came from a place in the… Outside World… called Michigan, in the U.S. I guess I got my powers from staying with the same Dream Traveler for so long… At least, that's what I was told…"

"Wait… Are you saying that there really is an entire world for dreams?"

"That's what I always believed, and I have been there to prove it… Or at least, Laurana has."

"What are you called there?"

"For some reason… They don't call me Kris… Instead, they call me the Dream Guardian."

"Do you have any idea what it means to be one?"

"I have a couple ideas… First, it could mean that I guard the gate between Gensokyo and the Dreamscape, but since the Garden of the Sun is also a gate, I doubt that… Unless that gate was somehow destroyed… The other possibility is that I'm a protector of dreams, who wards off nightmares in some way or another."

"…Alright, if I think of any more questions, I'll ask them."

"I'll do my best to answer them then… Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk with Laurana to find out who she is…"

Leaving the shrine maiden in the main room, I headed to the guest room where I was staying.

"Laurana?"

"I… I heard you wanted some answers as to who I am…"

Laurana had wet spots on her face. She was crying for some reason, but I didn't know why…

"Is something wrong, Laurana…?"

"Do you know why the shrine maiden wanted to get rid of me?"

"No, but… I want to know more about you. I won't leave you once I know…"

"Follow me then… It's easier to show you…"

* * *

><p><em>Forest of Magic<em>

"We're almost there, aren't we?"

"You can tell…? I guess you would have survived after all…"

"What do you mean, I would have survived?"

"Look…"

In front of me, about a hundred feet away, was a corrupted meadow in the forest. Carefully setting foot in the meadow, I kept my hand on my katana, ready to lash out on anything that came near.

"Something's stirring…"

"Who's there?"

"…"

"C-come out! I know you're there!"

"…"

Turning around to leave, I was panicking more and more from what I saw. For miles in every direction, nothing but corrupted grass and trees could be seen.

"B-but… I only… Took a few steps into the meadow…"

* * *

><p><em>Forest of Magic, a few hours before noon, Laurana<em>

I can't believe… He was foolish enough to explore the meadow… Nobody survives those fields… I have to get Reimu! He can't survive there forever!

**Flies**

* * *

><p><em>Corrupted field, unknown location, unknown time<em>

"Something's approaching…"

"G-get back! I have a w-weapon!"

"…"

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine, Laurana<em>

There's Reimu!

"Reimu, Kris needs help!"

"Huh? What happened?"

"I took him to the location where people die so he could understand me better, and he sensed the corruption there… And he… And he… He went into the meadow to explore, and now he's trapped! Nobody survives in that meadow!"

"WHAT? Take me there, now!"

"T-this way!"

* * *

><p><em>Corrupted Field<em>

"It's getting closer…!"

"G-get… B-b-back!"

I wasn't afraid of what was going on. I was completely terrified. Breath shaking, I was looking around frantically to figure out what was getting closer while keeping my katana drawn and pointing at whatever seemed to move.

"…"

"I… Will… Survive… I just… Need to focus…"

Without any possible way for it to sneak up on me, a voice spoke behind me, causing me to drop the katana.

"Die."

"NO!"

Turning around, I saw a shadow lunge at me. Without my sword to protect myself, I crossed my arms in front of me, palms facing the creature. The encounter only lasted a few seconds. In panic, I activated all 5 of my original spell cards at once, creating a pentagram in front of me. Shrieking, the creature fled, and I only had _Tiger_ left. The other 4 cards disappeared with the pentagram…

The shriek pierced my mind, and I heard the cry of a girl screaming for help, just before her limbs were ripped from her body.

"H-holy… I never… Want to… Do that again…"

With no escape, I curled up into a ball, and the world went black. Just before that though, I saw that my Blue/Silver Aura… Had a spark of Black in it.

* * *

><p><em>Forest of Magic: Corrupted Meadow, Reimu Hakurei<em>

So this is the meadow the fairy was talking about… I can already sense the evil within the grass, the trees… But where's Kris?

"Were you lying to me to lure me here?"

"N-no! That's not it! The meadow takes you somewhere! You find yourself in a field… And the only escape is to defeat what attacks you… Please, you have to believe me!"

The fairy was… Crying… She never wanted to discover this meadow, and now, was forced to lead people here… The meadow was alive, and it was trying to corrupt the entire forest. She wasn't evil… She was only doing what she could to protect the Forest of Magic… By sacrificing the innocent to hinder the efforts of the meadow…

"I just… Want Kris back…! He understands me…! He's kind to me…! I want this meadow to leave…!"

**Thud**

"Huh?"

Incredible… Kris came back… He actually survived the meadow's curse…

"He… He's back…! Kris came back!"

Without even thinking about it, the fairy ran over to where Kris was, and held him, as if he could be lost at any moment. Is she truly good, who had no choice but to follow evil to do good? I don't know, but I think Kris understands her a lot more now… And… Why isn't he moving? And what did Kris lose to survive the meadow…?

* * *

><p><em>Forest of Magic: Corrupted Meadow, Laurana<em>

I was so afraid… I thought I lost Kris… I hope he never has to go through something like that again…! But wait… That mark… He couldn't have been… But he is… The corruption got to him… I hope he's strong enough to fight it… Like I was…

"Fairy, we need to get him to Eientei! Eirin might know how to wake him up!"

"Okay…!"

Please Kris… Be alright…

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it. Things have started to get interesting, haven't they? I just lost 4 cards to some random shadow, and now I have only one card that's even remotely useful in combat. I hope I don't have to fight for my life any time soon… I don't want to scare Laurana again…<strong>

**There's going to be some significance to me having Black Aura, but that won't be known for quite some time…**


	8. Beyond the Curse

**[Author's notes]: It took a bit longer than I expected, but I wasn't sure how to work with my predicament. I settled on tweaking a few things. What those things are, are for you to find out. Giving an idea of what I plan on having occur plot wise in the story, it shouldn't be too hard to find.**

**No reviews for the last chapter, so I'll just move on…**

* * *

><p>Beyond the Curse<p>

_Bamboo Forest of the Lost: Eientei, two days later, noon, outside perspective_

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you with things related to curses. The most I can do is give you information about the curse."

This was the statement given from a nurse with long, silver hair. She wore a nurse's cap and a red and blue skirt. On the skirt were constellations found in the night sky. Eirin Yagakoro may know everything, but she can't act on all her knowledge.

Laurana spoke next.

"Is there anything you know that could help Kris?"

"I know of a few ways to help Kris. The safer options take longer, but they might be better than the faster options. I'll leave that for you to decide."

Picking up a notebook, she began looking through it for curse in question.

"Here it is. The first method is to place a stronger curse on Kris that can be quickly broken. However, only a few such curses exist in Gensokyo. The curses might also make things worse if you aren't careful. He's strong in will through, so the option might be worth trying."

Reimu was quick to respond.

"How can you tell he's strong in will?"

"Even while in the state he's in, he can still use his Aura. From what I know about the curse, only the strongest wills can do such a thing, as the curse normally prevents the targets from doing anything."

"Can I see him?"

Eirin paused, and considered things.

"Hmm… I suppose it isn't too dangerous… Follow me."

Reimu, Laurana, and Eirin headed toward another room. As they moved through the halls, swarms of rabbit youkai milled about, unsure of what to do.

"Strange… Tewi usually remembers to give orders to them before disappearing…"

Eirin thought nothing of it. Tewi has disappeared before without telling the rabbits what to do.

Shortly after Eirin's comment, they reached a door.

"Before we enter, I need you to remember that he isn't in the best condition. I don't want you to do anything sudden. Whether he's actually in control of his Aura or not is debatable, though things are usually safe."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if he was always able to do this, since you never said anything about his abilities, but he's capable of moving things around with his Aura. This can be very dangerous, as he is also capable of moving people and youkai around as well. I've lost three youkai rabbits because of this when he decided to stick them into the walls."

Reimu seemed slightly concerned, but felt confident in her skills.

"Well, at least we'd still have time to-"

"It's instantaneous."

Reimu and Laurana were silent. Neither of them have ever heard of such a dangerous ability.

"It's called Shadow Dancing. It's a powerful illusion that shifts things around, but only in dark areas. Rarely useful in combat, and during the daytime… It can be lethal in ambushes. The effect is immediate, but it takes time to adjust the scene to your liking mentally."

Reimu made a mental note not to challenge Kris to a rematch at night.

"…I don't care. I want to see him."

Laurana seemed more concerned for Kris than for her own safety. She was already looking towards the door, keeping herself from just running through the door to see the boy who was kind to her.

"Alright. Shall we go in then?"

Both Reimu and Laurana nodding in agreement, Eirin opened the door.

Moving through the door, the first person they saw was a rabbit with long, silver hair, crumpled looking rabbit ears, and red eyes. She wore a white shirt with a purple skirt. She also wore a necktie. Reisen Udongein Inaba watched over the unconscious figure on the table.

"KRIS!"

Without warning, the red-head flew towards the table, only to find the table to have nobody on it.

"Huh…?"

Reisen calmly moved under the table, making no sudden movements to ensure nothing else happens, and picked Kris up. Setting him down carefully, Laurana looked to see how he was doing.

"Kris…"

"Do you wish to know the other methods for the curse?"

"Yes please…"

Eirin looked back to her notebook, and read off the second method.

"You have to destroy the cause of the curse, whether it's a person or a place.

Laurana looked at Eirin in surprise, and Reimu spoke up.

"You can't destroy it."

"Why not, Reimu? All it would take is to take the lives of those who bear the mark-"

"That's why."

Eirin adopted a puzzled look as she stared at Reimu.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Kris would never allow it."

"What makes you so sure of that? He's unconscious, so he can't decide."

"One of the people who would need to be killed is the fairy next to me. Kris trusts her, and when I threatened her well-being, Kris challenged me to a Spell Card duel. He's capable of fighting through injuries as if nothing happened. He fought me with a broken arm. Do you want to see what he'll do when he finds out you killed her?"

"…Point taken… The last solution I know of is to simply wait for him to wake up. Given how strong his will is, it can take from a few days to a few months"

"Do you know where we can find the curses that can break this one?"

"One is actually in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. It's called the Forest of Shadows, a place in the forest where some curses still linger. Entering there causes a curse to be switched with another. It's hard to tell what the curse will be, and since the current curse can only be overtaken by a stronger curse, you might end up with a worse curse than before. Beware using that place, as it might kill him."

"There's also Suwako, who can still command some curse goddesses. Have her place a curse on Kris, and then have Sanae break it. This takes a bit of luck, but the curse on him right now can't be broken any magic, except other curses. You might have some trouble, since Suwako isn't fond of using curses, and Kanako might not allow you to have Sanae break the curse…"

"The final source rests with me. Some consider the Hourai Elixir to be a curse itself, since the immortality is absolute. To be damned to walk to the ends of the world… Then to walk back. That is what the Elixir does… Indeed, it is a curse to drink the Hourai. Unlike the other curses, this one cannot be undone, unless he dreams of a way… If nothing in reality can undo it, there's a way in dreams to do so…"

Eirin looked at the fairy and miko, expecting comments from the two.

"So the Hourai Elixir can be undone… By having a strong imagination?"

"Not completely true, but yes. However, that only applies if you later die in the Dream World. If you don't, and instead return to Gensokyo, then undoing the Elixir was pointless, as you'll be cursed by it again."

Laurana turned to Reimu.

"I'm not sure how we should go through with this… Do we curse him, or let him be…?"

"I think it might be best to wait a few days before deciding. If he doesn't wake up in a week, we'll try using a curse."

"Okay…"

Laurana turned back to Kris, before looking away and walking out the door with Reimu.

* * *

><p><em>Unknown location, unknown time<em>

Darkness… Suffering… Loss… Hurt… Death… Destruction… Hunger… That is all I feel… All that exists in this twisted reality… I am a light in the darkness, and I shall resist with whatever strength I have…

A light.

A message of what I see… They have to know what is going to happen…

* * *

><p><em>Bamboo Forest of the Lost: Eientei, outside perspective<em>

"Hopefully, they won't need to use a curse. Messing with curses can be dangerous, and sometimes fatal, even for the people casting it…"

Without warning, writing showed up on the wall.

"Eirin, look…"

"Did he do that?"

"I think he did."

"Let's see…"

The world is in flames; people will rise.

The world is at war; rules will be broken.

The leaders meet; neither walks away.

CL is sealed; CD is dead.

Both return; we start again.

"…A prophecy? He's showing us a PROPHECY?"

Eirin's voice rose as she reread the words. It made no sense. With so few people in Gensokyo that can possibly start a war, and even those that can, won't.

Who was CL and CD? Who is being mentioned for 'we'?

Eirin despised prophecies. She found them to be horribly inaccurate most of the time, as they were written by mankind, who often misunderstood what they were told, seeing it as something else. This one however…

Kris was human, but he couldn't have come up with it on his own… Right? Was this his idea of a prophecy, or was he simply relaying it to her? Either way, she was writing it down.

It was hard to say if it would be accurate later, and the Lunarians would be interested if he could see the future…

* * *

><p><em>Unknown location<em>

There… I hope someone saw the message… They'll know what to do if I can't take part… Funny how this curse allowed me to see the future… the Light Mind would be impressed… I just hope the Dark Mind doesn't win out…

* * *

><p><em>Hakurei Shrine, night, Laurana<em>

Kris seemed to be okay, but I hope he'll wake up soon… If he doesn't, we might have to take him to the Forest of Shadows… I won't allow the other options. I don't trust the green haired miko, and the concept of absolute immortality seems too harsh for Kris…

I wonder if I can still summon my familiars…

…It seems that I can.

"Laurana, is that you?"

!

"Those familiars… Laurana, are you…"

"Um… I have some explaining to do… Don't I…?"

"You're the last fairy I faced before I found Mokou during Kaguya's Trial of Guts…"

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it. The truth behind the fairy I've come to like. How will I react when Reimu tells me this? I have no idea, I haven't thought of that yet. Reviews would be nice. It gives me something to talk about at the beginning of the next chapter.<strong>

**You can also message me if you want to learn more about anything. I'll give out some details (more in the message than the commentary), and some information about any OCs, but don't expect to find any spoilers (unless I accidentally forget to avoid saying a spoiler.)**


	9. Darkness Forgotten

**[Author's notes]: I may not be updating as frequently as I'd like. Mainly because I just want to skip to the fighting parts, but since I want to give everyone else a good story… My ideas are finally useful for once.**

**Now for some questions…**

**Ban3: Why didn't they visit Hina who thrives on eating curses? She is a curse goddess after all.**

**Answer: I knew I was forgetting something… I'll see what I can do.**

**radioactive arbiter: Given the nature of Kris's ability, I assume he obtains spell cards through his dreams. Since he is currently in a coma, when/if he wakes up, will the nature of his current/future spell cards change?**

**Answer: Since I never got into details about my ability, I decided to tweak it. While not very well defined in the story, I was originally going to have me with Aura that could make me move faster and have more strength, which is how I controlled Aura before the curse. Then I looked at my MtG deck (not joking) and decided to work with [spoiler] instead. Given the nature of the curse, I can legitimately tweak my abilities, because different Auras give different strengths. Some Auras are better for manipulating the environment, some are better for giving shape to things, some work to enchant… Need I go on?**

**Answer (con.): I don't get spell cards from dreams. I make them from my Auma. Dream Gate was just a sign that I had created the link between the Dream Traveler and myself. It only revealed itself once I came to Gensokyo. As such, I won't be getting any spell cards when I wake up (because Reimu WILL find a way to wake me up. She refuses to let me stand undefeated.) unless I try to make one while in a coma.**

**Now that that's out of the way… Time to move on to the story. The person's thoughts will be italicized from now on. Focus changes will also be underlined in addition to being italicized.**

* * *

><p>Darkness Forgotten<p>

_Unknown location, unknown time_

_Need sleep… Too much negativity… Death… Destruction… Nothing can stand… Nothing will live…_

_A tainted Aura… A pure spirit… I shall walk through the grey zone… As that is who I am…_

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, 7:30 a.m., 4 days later, Reimu Hakurei<span>_

_I sometimes wonder where Yukari gets these things… A clock and a metronome… I see a use for the clock, but the metronome? Could it be that Kris enjoys music? I don't know…_

…_Did I just hear donations?_

_I should go check… But it's so early… Just five more minutes…_

Zzz…

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, outside perspective<span>_

"Maybe we're too early?"

"We better not be. We would have donated for nothing!"

"It's not my fault she's so lazy!"

Three fairies began to argue amongst themselves. One had long brown hair, grey eyes, and butterfly wings. Star Sapphire wore a blue dress with white sleeves and a pair of brown boots. On her forehead was a blue ribbon.

Next to Star Sapphire was a fairy with short red hair with red ribbons in them and blue eyes, as well as the typical wings of fairies. She wore a red and white dress with long sleeves and frills, as well as a pair of black and white shoes. For headgear, Sunny Milk wore a maid's headband.

The last fairy had blonde hair and red eyes. Her hair was set up into six princess curls and had a pair of wings similar in shape to crescent moons. Luna Child wore a black and white dress with black sleeves. On the front of the dress were a few black ribbons, and a larger one tied on her neck. She wore a white beret and some slippers.

"Quiet…! Someone's coming…"

Star Sapphire pointed to the shrine door, which had just opened.

Walking out was who they knew well.

Laurana.

"W-what is she doing here!"

"Isn't she supposed to be in the Forest of Magic now? !"

"Don't look in the box! Don't look in the box!"

Their prank was going to be very bad for them if Laurana checked the box.

Sunny Milk turned to the other two.

"We need to get out of here. Laurana will not be happy that we tried to prank Reimu if it turns out they're friends."

**Poof!**

Laurana had picked up a coin, and when she looked at it, it exploded, sending soot everywhere. Her clothes, hair, and face were covered in it.

"…Run."

From behind the bushes came three fairies. Laurana didn't need to see them, or hear them. She knew they did it, and knew where their house was. They shouldn't have told her… She'd deal with them later. First she needed to deal with all the soot…

* * *

><p><em>Bamboo Forest of the Lost: Eientei, 12:00 p.m., outside perspective<em>

"How is he doing?"

"He seems to be doing alright… Another rabbit was sent into the wall though."

"…Why didn't I think of this before? Reisen, I want you to put some candles in that room so that there's as little shadow as possible. We'll nullify his ability."

"Yes master…"

With that, Reisen left to get some candles and other light sources at the Human Village.

"Just what are you up to, kid… How are you developing such powerful abilities so quickly…?"

* * *

><p><em><span>Unknown location<span>_

_Forget it all… I have to sleep… I need rest… Or everything will fail… My mind must be intact when I wake up…_

* * *

><p><em><span>Bamboo Forest of the Lost: Forest of Shadows, unknown perspective<span>_

_There's a curse in here somewhere… It looks like… There…_

"Is that the last piece, sir?"

"It is."

Two men in black hooded robes wandered the dark bamboo forest. Decaying earth, withered bamboo, and an eternal fog, the forest was able to create cursed objects. Touching one switches your curse with the object's curse. If you don't have a curse, you can't touch the objects. At least, that's how it's supposed to be…

"Shall we return to the meadow?"

"Yes. With the last piece, we can break the seal, free her, and make Nightmares hold power over Dreams..."

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, 3 days later, 10:17 a.m., Laurana<span>_

"Reimu, we should go see if Kris is alright now. It's been a week."

"Alright, alright… What about those fairies?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

_She doesn't need to know what I did… She wouldn't like it, but she wouldn't really hate it either… Still surprising on how easy it is to recreate what they did… Exploding soot coins… They'll be hard pressed to get out of a web made of those… At least, not without having to clean their whole house!_

* * *

><p><em><span>Bamboo Forest of the Lost: Eientei, Reimu Hakurei<span>_

"Did he wake up?"

"No, but he started mumbling about something. Kaguya seemed to know what he's going on about, but I'm not quite sure I understand…"

"Exactly how does that work?"

"Kaguya just goes to where he is, waits for him to say something, and then goes back to her computer… She had it since we got here, if you need to know. I don't care much for the games she plays on it, but they keep her busy, at least…"

"Reimu, where should we take him?"

"I think it might be best to take him… Eirin, did you say Hina could help?"

Eirin looked through her notebook, but didn't see anything about it.

"I'm fairly certain Hina could, but I don't think she'll take a curse that strong. You need to remember what her danmaku is."

_Forgot about that. I guess we'll just have to use one of her ideas… Still, maybe Hina would be worth seeing._

"We'll take care of Kris. Thanks for keeping an eye on him."

"That'll be 45,000 yen."

"For what? !"

"Kris killed off 4 of our rabbits. I will have compensation."

_Damnit Kris… When you wake up, I'm getting compensation from you._

Reimu produced the bag of yen Kris donated in the duel between them, and she pulled out 50,000 yen.

"Thank you for your patronage…"

"What about the change?"

"You don't need it."

"Really though, I want it back."

"No change in the House of Eternity."

_Kris, you owe me 50,000._

* * *

><p><em><span>Youkai Mountain: Great Youkai Forest, outside perspective<span>_

Carrying the unconscious figure in her arms, Laurana moved through the forest with ease. Reimu also didn't have any trouble, because Laurana had a reputation of defeating those that stood against her ideals. Few actually did though, since she generally had the right morals.

"Where could she be…?"

Laurana may be stronger than most fairies, but she was getting tired from carrying Kris around.

"Laurana, do you want me to carry him?"

"No, I'm… Actually… Yes, please…"

Passing the boy over to Reimu, they continued looking for the curse goddess.

Eventually, they found her.

Aquamarine hair and eyes, she wore a red dress with the kanji for misfortune on it. In her hair were red bows with frills on them. Around her left arm was another red bow. Hina Kagiyama looked at the unconscious figure first, seeking to identify the curse.

"Darkness Forgotten… I haven't seen that for some time…"

Hina smiled.

"I'll be more than happy to accept this curse."

"Wait, what? But what about-"

"Have you ever wondered why I only use weaker curses for danmaku?"

"Isn't it because you won't consume stronger curses?"

"Actually, it's because I exploit the Forest of Shadows."

"Wait, so the curses there-"

"Are made by me... At least, the stronger ones are. It's where I get rid of my more powerful curses."

Pulling out a broken watch, Hina placed it in Kris's hand. A spark moved across Kris's body to the watch, and another spark went from the watch to Kris's body. Hina then picked up the cursed watch and headed in the direction of the Forest of Shadows.

"Take care of him. He'll never get over Darkness Forgotten… Laurana should know that…"

Laurana looked at the now stirring figure, tears starting to fall.

"Kris…!"

These weren't tears of loss. They were from relief that it was over. He was waking up.

* * *

><p><em><span>Unknown location<span>_

_Something's different_… I can wake up now_…__ I have only one chance to get out of this… Nobody is going to stop me from waking up._

"_Bleeding Edge…_"

* * *

><p><em><span>Bamboo Forest of the Lost<span>_

"_Bloodlust Blade_!"

Moving quickly, I cut the side of the person standing over me.

_Sonic and the Black Knight gave me that idea… Proved useful for-_

"Kris! Look at what you just did?"

"Huh?"

Turning, I saw who I cut… Laurana.

"Kris… Help…"

"Oh god… Laurana, I'm sorry!"

Panicking, I pulled out my spell cards. _Esuna _was still there, but it felt weak… I tried it anyway.

"_Aura sign_: _Esuna_."

Instead of the card pulling on some of my Aura, it burned into Aura. Not a good sign. Still, I pressed the orb of light against Laurana's wound, and it closed.

"Laurana, I'm so sorry…!"

Tears fell from my face as I held her. I never meant to hurt her, but that's what I did… I wanted to protect her, and ended up almost killing her…

"…"

Laurana was silent… Unsure of what to make of what I just did… I hope she'll forgive me… I don't want to lose one of my first friends in Gensokyo…

"Kris…"

…_I'm going to have nightmares about this… I just know it…_

She moved her arms around me, and we held each other.

Somehow, I knew everything would be alright… No matter how bad it got.

* * *

><p><strong>There you go. Another chapter of the story. Might seem a bit rushed based on the pace of the story, but I was planning on having this happen regardless.<strong>

**Two new OCs have been found in Gensokyo. What could they be up to? What is the 'eternal nightmare'? That's for me to know (maybe not, but still), and for you to find out (possibly with me).**

**I wonder when Marisa's going to get a new sword for me… I almost forgot about that…**

* * *

><p><em><span>Human Village, Marisa Kirisame<span>_

"Damnit Kris... Why do I have to find you a sword? I'm never going to find one at this rate..."


	10. The Art of Bullet Hell

**[Author's notes]: No review questions, so no answers to be given. Ban3 gave some advice though, so I'll see about trying to put that into practice. I make no promises though…**

**New adjustment: If the characters are in the distance (and technically out of earshot for the perspective), I'll give out their name in italics before what they say.**

**Edit: To avoid confusion (someone didn't understand what actually happened), I made it more obvious where it really was. In-story, I didn't know I was in the Dreamscape.**

* * *

><p>The Art of Bullet Hell<p>

_Dreamscape: Hakurei Shrine, noon_

_It's good to be back… I missed this place… Now that I'm here, everything should be alright…_

"Where are my cards…? I should work on making a few new spell cards… The Auma idea is too risky to rely on… Maybe I should make an danmaku type card? I'll figure something out."

Looking everywhere in the general area, I tried to find my deck of cards. They didn't seem like much, but I needed them if I was going to learn danmaku.

From behind the door, Reimu spoke.

"Kris…? Are you still asleep? I need to talk with you about a few things."

"Give me a minute, I'm trying to find my cards."

The door slid open.

"Maybe I can… Help…? Kris, what is going on in here? !"

Reimu was shocked at the sight. I looked around to see what she was talking about, and was astonished that I hadn't noticed earlier.

_What the hell happened to my room?_

I was in the middle of a field of flowers somehow, despite being inside my room in the Hakurei Shrine.

"…I… Have NO idea what's going on anymore…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, 8:12 a.m.<span>_

"Huh? What just…? Why are my dreams so weird?"

_Maybe I should stop having such weird thoughts before going to bed… Eh, I'll get used to it… Is Laurana in my futon again? …I don't care anymore. I'm not going to let it bother me._

Crawling out of my futon, I reached for my cloak, cards, and sword.

Unfortunately for me, they weren't there. Instead, there were several sets of clothes from home, as well as the shattered pieces of my staff.

"Yukari was here… And it seems she found the pieces to my staff… I'll get around to fixing it eventually… Maybe."

_Now that I think about it, when was the last time I changed my clothes and bathed? Hmm… I should probably get around to doing that._

Grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt, I looked around for a place to bathe. Reimu, however, had other ideas.

"Kris, can I speak with you for a few minutes?"

"Can it wait? I was planning on bathing…"

Only then did I notice Reimu with some clothes of her own, as well as a towel.

_Oh god, don't join me… It's weird enough with Laurana sleeping in my futon._

"…Make it quick, or I'm joining you."

"…"

Blushing, I headed in the direction of the baths.

_I hope she wasn't serious…_

* * *

><p><em><span>Dreamscape: Bamboo Forest of the Lost, 2:00 a.m., Laurana<span>_

"So you're the group of people who entered the Forest? I guess I'll need to drive you out. Nobody stands against my familiars."

Laurana was standing against Reimu and Yukari. Smiling, she released her familiars, quickly creating a web of danmaku. While Yukari ducked and weaved through the bullet hell, Reimu pulled out a spell card.

"I don't have time for this… _Spirit Sign_: _Fantasy Orb_!"

The orbs of light cut through the danmaku and the fairy's familiars. Once they connected with her, they exploded. Crying out, her familiars faded and she fell to the ground.

"Come on Yukari, we need to finish this Trial…"

Laurana called out weakly to them, trying to continue despite having been struck by Reimu's spell card.

"Come back… I'm not… Done yet…"

_And yet… I am… I'm in no condition to continue…_

Laurana struggled to get up, and once she succeeded, she decided to make a reputation for herself to the fairies.

_If I did it in real life, it shouldn't be that hard to do so in a dream..._

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, 8:27 a.m.<span>_

_I need to stop being so lazy when bathing… I should have been done by now… Huh?_

Walking through the door to the baths was none other than Reimu.

_Oh crap… I took way too long…_

"Are you done?"

"J-just a few more minutes! I'll… I'll be out by then!"

"Not good enough… And if I catch you looking, I will make sure you regret it!"

With that statement, the miko started to undress so she could bathe.

"Um… Uh…"

_Damnit, why'd I have to take so long…?_

Trying my best to keep myself from peeking, I eventually gave in once she was done undressing.

It was worth getting blasted.

"Wow…"

"_Spirit Sign_: _Fantasy Seal -Concentrate-_!"

"Oh, fu-"

**Explosion**

Insert Courage from Courage the Cowardly Dog laughing after being injured here.

"…I'm okay…! …Ow…"

Grabbing a towel and my clothes, I ran for my room. I'd rather not get in any more trouble.

_Now that I've seen that, I don't need to… What the hell was I thinking? Reimu's never going to forget that… And I probably got a black mark on my record for it…_

Putting on a new pair of jeans and a plain red shirt, I turned and tossed the dirty clothes into a pile in the corner.

Moving towards the main room, I saw my cards, sword, and cloak on the table. I grabbed the cards and set up a game of solitaire.

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, unknown perspective<span>_

_The kid is more interesting than I thought. He took one of Reimu's more powerful spell cards and kept going as if nothing happened… Maybe he would actually stand a chance in a duel without restrictions… It'd be fun to see how he handles bullet hell._

A ghost with green hair and eyes was floating in the shade of a tree. Wearing a blue cap with a large yellow star on it, she also wore a blue and white dress. Leaning on the tree was a crescent moon staff. Mima didn't show herself very often, but she had a habit of doing so when an incident was getting started.

_Should I wait for him, or should I seek him out… What's the worst he could do? He has only a weak spell card, and he most likely doesn't understand how to use danmaku… Then again, he might be able to come up with something that could actually hurt… I doubt it, but I'll wait for him to come out… Challenging him would be interesting._

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine<span>_

"So… What did you want to talk about?"

"First, I wanted to talk about that curse. What was it like?"

_Not something I want to talk about, Reimu. But if you insist…_

"Dark. Dark and cold. No happiness, no light, no warmth, no love… Only the negative side of life exists there… Trapped within your own mind… In a prison made from all that is Dark…"

"It didn't… Change you, did it…?"

In response to this, I placed my hand on the table, and caused it to rot. In the time of 6 seconds, the table was no longer usable.

"What…?"

"I now hold all that is Dark. I can corrupt anything I touch if I choose. There may be other abilities tied to this Darkness, and I have a good idea on what one of them is, but that remains to be seen."

"So you're dark in nature?"

"You could say that, but corruption can also turn against evil and Darkness. Corrupted Darkness is neutral-ish, just as corrupted Light is. If the need arises, I can enter places where the Light cannot, and bring those with the Light with my by corrupting the atmosphere… I think."

"Don't put that into practice, please…"

"I won't, don't worry… There's one thing that worries me though…"

"What would that be?"

"My Aura. It used to be a Blue Silver aura… Now it's Blue Black. It explains why _Esuna_ burned out when I used it… And it might explain why I only have the proof that I'm a Dream Guardian now, when I originally had 5 spell cards."

During this discussion, I had almost finished the game of solitaire I was playing. I didn't need a table to play it…

"…Kris."

"Yes?"

"I think it would be best if you learned danmaku."

"…I guess you might be right, but I don't know what I'm capable of, so…"

"That doesn't matter. You need to learn danmaku."

"Fine…"

Walking out in front of the shrine, I grab the cards and pocket them. Since Reimu never seems to play cards, she shouldn't mind…

"First, we need to see what your danmaku is. Since you know your power, you just need to focus it into a bullet."

Reimu pulls out an amulet, and has it hover above her hand.

"It's not that hard to do this, to be honest."

Reimu sent the amulet into a tree, then turned to face me.

"Let's see what your danmaku looks like."

_Okay… I just need to focus on my power, focus it into my hand, and move the focus above it…_

Moving the Aura around, I focused the Black part of my Aura over my hand, creating…

_A card? I didn't draw one from my pocket…_

"Kris, stop messing around. Create your danmaku."

"Okay…?"

_Let's try that again…_

Focusing the Black part of my Aura over my hand again, I look in confusion at what I made.

_Another card? This is my danmaku?_

"Kris, I told you to stop messing around! Create your danmaku already!"

"Reimu… I think this IS my danmaku."

"What? Let me see that…"

"Reimu, I don't think it's a good idea to touch other-"

Too late. Reimu grabbed the card. In some sort of anti-flash, it consumed a small area around the card.

"W-what…?"

"The hell…?"

Grabbing her hand, I look to see the damage. Her hand was almost black, and appeared to be dead.

"Sorry… But I did try to warn you."

"Fix my hand… Now."

"What am I supposed to do, corrupt the corruption? I don't think it works that way."

"This is Gensokyo. Abilities can work in strange ways."

Both Reimu and me turned towards the voice that spoke. Resting against a tree was one of the residents of the Hakurei Shrine, Mima.

"Reimu's ability to fly allow her to fly away from reality. Sakuya's ability to control time allow her to manipulate space. Yukari's power over boundaries allow her to twist reality. Your ability might work in a more interesting way."

Conceding to her idea, I grabbed Reimu's hand, and focused on the corruption. Interestingly enough, it began to flow back into my Aura… Maybe I have control over corruption itself? I don't know…

"…I don't like this ability… For all I know, it could corrupt a person's life, so that even youkai are permanently dead…"

"You're the one who thought of it, kid."

"Ugh… Reimu, can we move on?"

"I think we should. You need to learn how to actually fire that danmaku, and to create multiple bullets at a time."

Reimu unleashed several amulets at a tree. After a few moments, the amulets exploded in orbs of light, before fading. The tree was untouched.

"That doesn't seem too hard…"

Creating several cards from my Black Aura, I threw them at the tree. They exploded in midair, only a few feet from where I was.

"Try again."

_This could take a while…_

* * *

><p><em><span>Human Village, Marisa Kirisame<span>_

"There has to be someone with a sword for sale… In a place this big, there has to be…"

_Why am I even looking for a sword? He's the one who wants one! I should make him look for a sword instead. Forget what he said, I'm getting that sword back._

Grabbing her broom, Marisa takes off in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine.

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, 4:30 p.m.<span>_

"The main problem with your danmaku, Kris… It's not legal. You need a way to use danmaku that doesn't do THAT."

Pointing to a completely withered tree, Reimu tried to get me into making legal danmaku so I could participate in spell card duels, and have the protection of the Spell Card system.

_What am I doing wrong? I'm just drawing off of my Aura, and releasing the cards at my target…_

"Kris, what are you drawing on to create corruption? Is it your direct power, or something else?"

Mima seemed aware of my mistake, but she doesn't want to give it out. So instead, she only hinted at it.

"I'm just drawing on my Aura… I don't see how… Oh, I see…"

Drawing on my Blue Aura, I created another handful of cards. Throwing them into another tree, they explode in blue sparks. The tree was untouched.

"YES! I CAN CREATE DANMAKU!"

"Hardly an achievement, considering how long you were here."

"Shut up, Mima."

_I'm not in the mood to be mocked by anyone. At least I'm making progress._

"Kris!"

"Oh, what now?"

To my left stood a very angry Marisa. Her broom was just in her hands. It was aimed like a rifle at my head.

"Uh… Maybe we can work something out…? No need for violence, right…?"

_What a load of crap that is… I'd rather just take her down before she has a chance. My laziness knows no bounds though, so I'll just try to talk my way out…_

"I want my sword back."

"I already told you, it's not your sword."

"I don't care. I want it back."

"You brought me something to replace it, right?"

"Get it yourself."

_Poor choice of words, Marisa…_

"I guess you aren't getting the sword back. Maybe I'll keep it…"

_Since talking won't work, I'll provoke her into fighting._

"As if! You're giving up that sword right now!"

"I'd really like to see you force me to do so."

"You're in for it now… _Magic Space_: _Asteroid Belt_!"

Marisa started releasing stars everywhere, covering the grounds in stars. With this being my first time in actual bullet hell, I would like to say that I ran through this without any trouble.

It should go without saying that I didn't last very long.

"HOLY SH-"

Jumping across the stars, I tried my best to keep my footing while evading the complete chaos from the stars. Only 10 seconds into the card, much longer than what I expected, I was hit by several of the stars.

"Son of a bitch that hurts!"

It wasn't even a fight after that. Marisa kept firing her stars, and I desperately moved through it. After that series of hits, I found a way through the card and slipped between the bullets the witch released.

"Enough from you, witch! _Bleeding Edge_: _Bloodlust Blade_!"

Using the energy of the danmaku, I steadily increased the speed I was moving. I don't know how, but it was impressive. In little time, I was already moving through the attack with ease.

"Break!"

Cutting past Marisa from behind, I got her at the waist, breaking her spell card.

"Damnit Kris! I'm getting that sword back!"

"Not at the rate you're going!"

_Reimu_ "He learns fast."

_Mima_ "I have to agree. That card is also interesting… It seems to draw power from grazing… Very powerful in a bullet hell duel, but it seems very brittle. One good hit should break it."

_Reimu_ "What makes you so sure about that?"

_Mima_ "The half-ghost girl's teacher had a similar card. He liked to charge it to the point where he could end the fight in a single stroke, but hated spending all that time grazing to get hit. He claimed it negates the card."

_Reimu _"Interesting. I didn't know Youki had a spell card like that."

_Mima _"Enough talking, Marisa's getting another card ready."

"_Loving Heart_: _Double Spark_!"

"Oh, that's not even fair!"

Jumping onto one of the sparks, I tried to keep my balance. I only had one spell card, and it was not going in my favor right now…

_Hold on, is she really that open to attack? She's too focused on her sparks…_

Keeping steady on the sparks, I sent several cards at Marisa. Seeing my attack, she stopped the sparks and moved out of the way.

"You'll need to do a lot better than that!"

Unleashing another spark, Marisa waited for me to land on it. Then she fired her second one.

"…Oh, hell…"

_Mima_ "That had to hurt. If he's still standing after THAT, I'm intervening."

_Reimu_ "Why? If he's still standing-"

_Mima_ "He'll be able to time out Marisa's cards just by standing there. Her sparks can't be used much in a bullet hell duel, and she knows that. Double sparking from one source puts a lot of strain on the user and whatever they're using."

"…I'm okay…!"

Marisa walked up to where I was, and pointed the Mini-Hakkero at me. Since I was too weak to get up, I did the only thing I could.

"Alright, I give up…"

_Stupid sparks… Those things need to be made illegal so that people don't have to forfeit after getting hit by one._

Handing the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi over to Marisa, she helped me up before turning to Reimu.

"I guess that makes me better than you."

"No it doesn't!"

"It totally does! I beat someone that could beat you! That counts!"

"Shut up and let me recover in peace!"

Reimu and Marisa turned to see me at the Shrine door.

"Oh, and Reimu, there's something in the donation box."

Curious, Reimu moved over to the donation box, and pulled out a black coin.

"What is this?"

"I don't know, I didn't put it there…"

**Poof**

Reimu's face got covered in soot. Almost immediately, Marisa started laughing at Reimu's misfortune. Laughing even harder were the Fairies of Light, who were hiding in a bush to my right. Chuckling, I headed for my room to rest for a bit. The clock read 4:36...

_I didn't even notice the time passing… Oh well. I learned danmaku, and actually posed a threat to Marisa. This is getting to be interesting…_

* * *

><p><strong>That's the end of it. While I did get my ass kicked by Marisa, I at least had fun doing so. Things are going to get a bit more hectic from here on, both for me and everyone else. Soon enough, I'll explore my power of corruption. What can it do? Too much, from what I've seen… Still, at least it's not- What the? A calendar? Where did this come from? Damnit Yukari, stop dropping things on me…<strong>


	11. Request of the Scarlet Devil

**[Author's notes]: It seems I wasn't clear for the first part in the last chapter. It was a dream, and it should have been somewhat obvious because I was in a field of flowers, despite being in my room at the Hakurei Shrine. Other than that, I didn't receive any reviews, so I'll continue.**

* * *

><p>Request of the Scarlet Devil<p>

_Hakurei Shrine, 9:30 a.m._

Experimenting with my ability some more, I discovered a slew of tricks. It seems my power is completely broken… Corrupting lies to allow only truth, corrupting speech to make someone mute… Corrupting death to make people immortal… I can even corrupt time to slow down whatever I choose in the corrupted area. This ability is almost as bad as Yukari's.

_What the hell did that meadow do to me? I hate this ability! I can even corrupt people's powers to make them useless… The one good thing is that I can also purify things…_

Purification allows me to undo what I corrupt, and to control what is and isn't corrupted. When using the two together, I can create paths for the corruption to follow, so that I can corrupt certain parts of things.

"Alright, I think that's enough experimenting…"

Grabbing the deck of cards, I went to open the door and go to the main room.

**Bang!**

The door opened so quickly it almost broke. What opened the door was an angry miko holding a newspaper.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? !"

Thrusting the newspaper into my hands, I looked at it.

"Bunbunmaru newspaper, 10th of November... That's not possible. It can't be the 10th… I was here longer than that…"

"That's all you noticed?"

"Well… It's not like I can read the damn thing."

It was true. To me, all I saw were Kanji. The only reason I knew it was the Bunbunmaru was because the only newspaper in Gensokyo was Bunbunmaru.

Reimu snatched the newspaper back, and read the title.

" 'Strange Outsider challenges and defeats Gensokyo's finest!' That's the title to it! What were you thinking?"

Whatever fear of attack from Reimu vanished. Quickly, it was replaced with anger. I take a stand when someone accuses me of something serious-ish that I didn't do.

"Then how did Aya know about this? !"

"Did it ever occur to you that Aya actually SAW the event?"

Whatever anger Reimu faded. It was clear that she never thought that Aya might have seen the whole fight.

"Oh… I… Sorry…"

"You better be!"

Pushing Reimu to the side, I headed out towards the Forest of Magic, putting on my cloak, with the cards in the pockets.

* * *

><p><em><span>Hakurei Shrine, outside perspective<span>_

"What just happened…?"

Laurana looked up from the corruption she was trying to remove and faced Reimu.

"You angered him, that's what."

"How?"

Laurana looked to the door, and when she didn't hear anything, she spoke.

"When Kris sleeps, I have access to his mind… Sort of…"

"How does that work?"

"He talks in his sleep. He's really open to questions for some reason while sleeping. He hates being accused of things he didn't do, and it tends to send him into a rage… It's even worse if you accuse him of breaking a promise."

"So… What does he usually do?"

"How should I know? It's not like I know how he acts when angry!"

"He went… He went to the Forest of Magic…"

Suika appeared in the room. Neither Reimu nor Laurana heard her walking into Kris's room.

"Oh… Thank you Suika."

Laurana gave up on trying to deal with the corrupted floor. Walking to the door, she turned around and made a final remark.

"I'm going to try and find him. I don't know how he'll act right now in that state."

* * *

><p><em><span>Forest of Magic: Kirisame Magic Shop, 11:15 a.m.<span>_

_To think she would accuse me of doing something like that…_

Wandering through the forest, I eventually came upon my destination: Marisa's house. Knocking, I soon got an answer from behind the door as it opened.

"Alice, I don't care about- Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Clearly, she isn't happy to see me so soon.

"Reimu put me in a bad mood and I need a few days to cool off. Is it alright if I stay here for a few days?"

Marisa glowered at me, but stepped aside to let me in.

"If you steal ANYTHING, I will kill you with it."

Walking through the door, I calmly responded to her death threat.

"Noted."

_Maybe I only need a day… After that, I'll consider dropping it._

* * *

><p><em><span>Forest of Magic, Laurana<span>_

"Kris? Kris!"

_Where could he be? I wish the fairies were keeping an eye on him… It would be so much easier to find him…_

Wandering through the forest, Laurana continued searching for the boy who stood out. He was like her, in many ways. Both of them were cursed by the meadow, both of them were respected by their people, and both of them held considerable power, among other things that haven't been seen yet.

* * *

><p><em><span>Forest of Magic: Kirisame Magic Shop, 2:45 p.m.<span>_

_That might not work… Maybe here?_

Placing a piece, I switched two of Marisa's pieces, tying the game. Marisa responded by placing a piece, flipping three of mine.

"11-6."

"9-9."

The calls continued as we placed pieces on the board.

"21-35. You're losing Kris."

"Not after getting two corners I'm not. 34-25, skip you, 40-20, another skip, and finish with 52-12. I win."

_I love Othello… Such a fun game…_

"Damnit… Another game."

"Fine with me."

Another game only took around 2 minutes. Halfway through, it was 8-36, severely in Marisa's favor. The final score was 13-51.

"That's that… Another game?"

"Sure."

Before we could get started, there was banging on the door.

"Oh, what now…?"

"I'll check, Marisa…"

The door swung open before I even had a chance to get up.

"MARISA! I WANT MY BOOKS BACK!"

_I wonder who that could be…_

Standing in the doorway was a pale youkai in what looked like a nightgown and purple slippers. On her head was a nightcap, and her purple-ish hair was adorned with ribbons. The nightcap had a crescent moon on it.

Behind the purple youkai was a girl with short silver hair, wearing a maid's headband and a blue and white French maid outfit. Patchouli Knowledge came to retrieve her books, and she had Sakuya Izayoi came with her to assist in getting the books back.

"Get out of my house!"

"Not without my books!"

"You can have them when I'm dead!"

"That can be arranged."

_No. Not happening. Nobody's dying here._

"Alright, that's enough."

Sakuya, Patchouli, and Marisa turned to face me. Patchouli tried to figure out who I was, while Sakuya stepped towards me.

"You're the one in the newspaper, correct?"

"Um… It depends on which newspaper… You might have mistaken me for someone else…"

" 'Strange Outsider challenges and defeats Gensokyo's finest!' is the title."

"…That would be me."

"My lady would like to see you. Tonight, if possible."

"Why is that?"

"It should be obvious."

"Oh, right… Actually, I don't think I will."

"What?"

"Why should I go out of my way and waste my time to see someone who I don't even know?"

"…"

Sakuya didn't know what to say. Nobody had ever refused to go when called by her mistress.

"I'm not going… Unless you meet a few conditions. First, you need to leave, right now, without taking anything in this house. Second, you need to get me a weapon, preferably a sword. Finally, you need… Actually, that's all I'll set up."

_If they comply, then they'll get a bonus._

Sakuya looked to Patchouli for instructions. Since Patchouli was the leader in this situation, she was busy trying to figure out the best solution. Deciding to help her in her decision, I moved the cloak to the side, revealing a book hidden within the darkness. After taking notice of it, she turned to Sakuya.

"I think it would be best if we leave."

Once she came to her decision, I turned to Marisa.

"I'll make sure they actually leave…"

As soon as Patchouli and Sakuya went through the door, I followed suit. They pretended to continue walking through, but once they reached the tree line, they hid behind a sizeable White Birch. Moving to where they were hiding, I pulled out three books.

"Sometimes, following instructions of someone else is a good thing. You can get things that you might have trouble getting otherwise. Seriously though, I need you to get me a sword. I need one if I'm going to use my spell card."

"You only have one? What about the others?"

"Burned away to keep me alive after some weird creature attacked me. They don't exist anymore… How did you know I had more than one spell card before?"

Sakuya remained silent, while Patchouli chose to look through her books.

_Fine, keep your secrets. As long as I get something from this, I'm fine._

"Give me a few minutes, and I'll have your sword. Anything in particular?"

"A katana that can be held in one hand. Probably around two and a half feet long in total."

"Very well…"

Pulling out a card, Sakuya vanished. Patchouli turned towards me.

"How is it possible for an Outsider to defeat Reimu when nobody else could?"

"Honestly… It took a bit of deception, and a new term that you win for interrupting five spell cards."

"That's it?"

"It is."

"Do you have any abilities?"

"Well, I can corrupt just about anything, even things like life and time-"

"Wait, there's an ability like that?"

"There is now. I don't like it though, so I rarely use it."

"Okay… Continue."

"I can also walk on magic… It makes sense when you see it happening."

"Care to demonstrate?"

"Fine with me."

_This is going to be interesting… I wonder what she'll use._

Patchouli released an orb of lightning, and held it in place, a few feet in front of her. The shape changed until it was a small disc, just large enough for someone to stand on.

"Try this."

"This'll be interesting…"

I jumped onto the lightning platform. I stayed on it for about six seconds before slipping.

"Oh shi-"

**Zap!**

"Ow…!"

"Are you alright?"

"Give me a minute…"

Seeking out the damage dealt from the platform, I found it on my back. I focused my corruption on it, and… Nothing. I can't touch it.

"Okay, that's a problem… I can't heal myself with corruption… This isn't so useful after all…"

"You're capable of corrupting anything, correct?"

"Almost anything… I haven't really experimented with it, but I came up with a lot of interesting possible targets… All I really experimented with so far is time, and that took longer than I thought, because purifying it is a pain."

"You're rather lazy, aren't you."

"It's really that obvious?"

"It is."

Before I could respond to that, Sakuya showed up where her card fell, holding a sheathed katana out to me.

"Let's go."

Drawing the katana, I grinned. Solid black with a slight curve on the spine of the sword, it seemed perfect for me. Too perfect, actually...

_This is going to be a fun stay… I wonder what I'll do when I get there?_

* * *

><p><em><span>Misty Lake: Scarlet Devil Mansion, 3:00 p.m., Remilia Scarlet<span>_

"I wonder what that Outsider will be like… Hopefully, she's interesting."

A small girl with bat-like wings, blue hair, and red eyes watched the gate from a balcony. Wearing a white dress and mob cap, the Scarlet Devil, Remilia Scarlet, was watching an event with interest.. At the gate was Meiling and a resident from the Human Village who liked to see the gatekeeper from time to time. Commonly, they would talk for a few minutes before the challenge was made.

_For a human, she's a really good fighter. Especially considering that she's fighting someone who's best at melee combat._

The girl tried her best, but couldn't keep up with Meiling's fierce attacks. After a few minutes passed, she was defeated.

Remilia didn't need to hear them to know what they were saying. Meiling was telling her that the girl did well, and that she should come back next week or so if she wanted another duel with her. The girl nodded and turned towards the Human Village.

_That's that… If only there were others like her… Seeing those fights are a good way to pass the time._

Remilia headed back inside, while Meiling returned to her wooden stool near the gate.

* * *

><p><em><span>Forest of Magic: Kirisame Magic Shop, Laurana<span>_

"How is it that he's able to disappear like that?"

"Who, Kris?"

"Yes, Kris. I can't find-"

Laurana turned to see who actually spoke. It was none other than the Ordinary Witch, Marisa.

"He left towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You should know where to go from there."

"Well, um… Thanks…"

Laurana flew off in the direction of the mansion. It was then that Marisa noticed a book near a tree.

_Marisa_ "Oh, that son of a bitch… That's how he got them to leave so easily…"

* * *

><p><strong>There we have it. I was originally planning on staying at Marisa's house until Laurana found me and sort of dragged me back, but then I decided it was time I met another incident solver. Sakuya and Remilia don't have much of a part in incident solving (they're probably better at causing them), but they still helped from time to time. It's funny… I make a plan on how the story goes, and when I reach that part, I completely tweak it until it looks nothing like what I was originally planning. Oh well… That's just who I am.<strong>

**Don't forget to review, and don't be afraid to ask questions! **


	12. Duty of the Gatekeeper

**[Author's notes]: These chapters are taking longer and longer to write... Stupid laziness… I might actually have to create an alternate story based on what would have happened if the opposite happened (instead of me going to Gensokyo, some people end up in my backyard somehow.) Of course, that would mean more work, so… Eh, I'll get around to that story once this one is done.**

**No questions, so I'll go straight to the story.**

* * *

><p>Duty of the Gatekeeper<p>

_Misty Lake, 3:15 p.m._

"Why is it taking so long to get there?"

"You're surrounded by fairies, yet you wonder why it's taking a long time to reach the mansion?"

It made sense. Hundreds of fairy sprites hovered around me. Most weren't even an inch tall, but it didn't matter much, considering their numbers.

"It's not like it's my fault!"

"Your popularity with fairies is going to be a nuisance, it seems…"

"Sakuya, you're not helping."

"She is. It's just not you, Fairykind."

_Fairykind? Where have I heard that term before…_

Keeping silent, we continued on. The SDM gate quickly came in sight.

"About time…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Unknown Location, Outside Perspective<span>_

"We lost a piece… I don't know how, but we did… Jake, ready the Shadows! We need to find the shard! We cannot create a Circle strong enough to break her seal without it!"

A cloaked man was talking with another man, as they stood over a girl with blonde hair. She was bound and gagged, so she couldn't call out for help. Not that it would make a difference, given where they were…

"Honestly, can't you come up with something better than Jake?"

"I told you, I'm not good with names."

"Very well then… I'll do as you say…"

The boy left, mumbling about how his master was unoriginal.

* * *

><p><em><span>Misty Lake: Scarlet Devil Mansion: Gate<span>_

"So, are you ready to meet my lady?"

"I am."

Looking over the mansion, the first thing I noticed was the great clock tower. Even after hearing of it in some stories, and seeing it in a few images from Danbooru, I never expected it to be so… Intimidating…

"Holy crap, it's huge…"

"Impressive, isn't it?"

"It actually is…"

I turned to face the person who spoke. Sakuya and Patchouli were to my side, so they couldn't have spoken. Meiling is probably sleeping right now, waiting to catch someone trying to enter the gate. That only left one person…

"Hello, Remilia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine."

Patchouli was mildly surprised that I was unfazed by Remilia being a vampire.

"Tell me… Why is it that you decided to enter the sun, just to see me? Am I really that interesting to you?"

"I heard you defeated the Shrine Maiden,"

"So that's the only reason you decided to send an invitation?"

"It is. After all, only someone _interesting_ is capable of defeating her."

"Not sure what you mean by that… I guess you could say I'm interesting though, based on what I can do."

"Oh? Show me what you're capable of."

_This could be a good time to try an experiment._

"Give me a moment to focus my power…"

"Very well then."

Focusing my power, I decided to make some good of it. I focused on making it darker so the sun wouldn't harm Remilia anymore than it already has. This focus was met with the area darkening to the point where it looked like night.

"There…"

"Manipulation of darkness? That's it? You're no more interesting than that Darkness Youkai…"

"You haven't seen the limits yet."

Switching from Darkness, I corrupted the ground around me. After a few moments, I stood in a circle of dead grass. Patchouli looked at me, trying to figure out why I was capable of that, while Remilia was actually impressed.

"Destroying life, too…? That's what I'd call interesting."

"From what I can tell, if I can think of it, and if I can focus on it, I can… Corrupt it… The results vary based on what I'm corrupting… I can't really explain how it works."

Patchouli looked at me critically. _Looks like I'm going to be an experiment for a while… Maybe that wasn't such a good idea._

"Sakuya, I believe we've been standing out here long enough. It's time we went inside."

Sakuya, Patchouli, and Remilia headed for the gate, so I followed suit, careful to avoid accidentally corrupting anything else. I've had the disturbing tendency to corrupt things for a while after I stop using the ability…

By the time I looked back to them, they were already at the door into the mansion. I ran for the gate, but that's when a certain gate guard decided I was a threat to the mansion.

"Hold on! You're not getting past me!"

"I am, because I was invited here."

"How can I be sure you aren't lying?"

_She has a bit of a point… I can't really prove what I'm saying._

"Well, you just saw Remilia, Sakuya, and Patchouli come back… Doesn't that count for something?"

"No."

"Well… Can't you talk with them in some way without leaving your post?"

"Sakuya checks on me from time to time, but that's about it."

"Alright… I think I can wait for that to happen…"

"You actually plan on waiting for her to check up on me?"

"Despite what you may have heard about me, I usually prefer more peaceful solutions. I fight only when I don't see a quick way to avoid doing so."

"Well, If you're going to stick around, you can at least help me prevent certain people from getting in."

"That shouldn't be too hard…"

"You'll be surprised. We have repeated thefts from-"

"I already know that. I came close to beating her, actually."

While that may not be true, I did force her to use two _Master Sparks_ at once.

"You almost beat Marisa? !"

"Yes."

"That's amazing!"

"Keyword was close. Close only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and… Speak of the Devil and she will come… It's everyone's favorite kleptomaniac."

"Where?"

"Look to your left."

Marisa was calmly flying towards the gate. She settled down in front of us.

"Nobody wants to deal with your petty thefts, Marisa."

"I'm not going to steal anything, I'm just coming to get some of my books back."

"There are things in that cottage that actually belong to you?"

Marisa was far from amused.

"It's your fault I lost them."

"Would you have rather seen half your home set on fire?"

"The problem doesn't have anything to do with my home. The problem has to do with you."

"Oh, sure… Blame the new kid… Forget it, we'll just cut to the battle. No flying, but otherwise-"

"No weapons either."

_Aw, crap._

"Otherwise, all the normal rules apply…"

The "normal" rules for a danmaku duel are basically this. Each person can use 10 different spell cards each. Bullet Hell cards count as two spell cards, and can only be used once per duel. All others can be used indefinitely, until you're too tired to continue fighting. The loser is the first to run out of stamina, rendering them unable to use spell cards. Some custom rules can be included, such as "no flying", "no danmaku", or "One chance", where all spell cards can only be used once, and you lose when you run out of spell cards. When custom rules are in place, breaking them results in a forfeit, but only if you're called on it. The only time custom rules don't effect you is when you're using a spell card, with the exception of "no danmaku", where Bullet Hell cards can't be used at all.

Marisa landed down on the ground, and held onto her broom.

"Ready, thief?"

"I'll ignore that, and get straight to fighting."

My first action nearly cost me the match, leaving Meiling to try to stop Marisa from entering the SDM.

_Without a sword, this is going to take a while… I could wait until she runs out of strength, but that'll take a while… Eh, what's the worst that could happen?_

I grabbed a rock off the ground, and threw it at her. She simply swung her broom to deflect it. My response to that was to aim for her hat. I barely nicked it, but that was all I needed to do.

"You did not just…!"

"I do believe I did…"

"_Love sign_: _Master Spark_!"

The familiar rainbow colored beam flew at me, and I jumped onto it, before running for the Ordinary Witch while on her Spark. Compared to the small disc of energy Patchouli had me stand on, this was something I had gotten used to.

"Cheater! You said-"

"I said no FLYING. Using your Spark as a platform is far from it."

Marisa stopped Sparking, and pulled out another spell card. She really wants to get me back for returning some of Patchouli's books…

"_Star Sign_: _Dragon Meteor_!"

Marisa flew into the air, and fired a giant laser at me.

"Oh, fuck…!"

I jumped away from the laser of death, and barely cleared out of the way. Unfortunately, Marisa decided it was time to employ laser drag.

"That's even more unfair than the Double Spark…"

I got caught in the destruction. Needless to say, it hurts to get hit by those attacks.

"That took longer than I thought… Now to deal with Meiling so I can get my books back."

"Hold on… I'm not quite down yet… _Bleeding Edge_: _Bloodlust Blade_."

I drew my katana, but before I could do anything, several illusions appeared. I then got the idea of cutting them down to create danmaku. Calmly moving through the small group of illusions, I cut them down, and as they collapsed, they shattered, releasing colorful orbs everywhere.

_Hmm… Those illusions looked familiar…_

Marisa seemed to recognize them though, based on her expression. She still managed to evade the orbs, though it seemed she was having trouble. This seems unlike Marisa… It's not that hard to dodge them, right…?

Another group of illusions rose, and I turned to cut them down as well. Weaving through the new group, they fell, collapsing into more danmaku. Marisa muttered something while she dodged again, but I couldn't hear it clearly.

_Marisa_: "No…"

A third group of illusions. I began destroying them like the previous groups, but then I looked at one of them closely after cutting them down. My eyes went wide with shock as I realized just what _Bloodlust Blade_ really was…

It played on your nightmares. In this case, the fear of losing those you care about: friends, family, all of them, as you watch them killed while you stand helpless to stop the killer.

"N-no… But that means…!"

I was severely shaken by what I just discovered. It never crossed my mind that I was also attacking Marisa mentally, by killing those she was close to.

_No… They're not real… I'm just making them so I can turn this into a Bullet Hell card… Just focus on the match… And deal with the mental issues I'll get later…_

Clearing my mind, I continued the massacre. I watched with a blank expression as my parents, friends, and everyone in my home town was killed by my sword, again and again, all to defeat Marisa. Marisa continued to dodge the barrage, but eventually, between barrages, she snapped.

"Just stop, please! I don't want to see them die anymore…!"

It took me a moment to realize that tears were falling from her face. While I could convince myself that it wasn't true, Marisa wasn't so lucky. The sight of seeing her own friends killed overwhelmed her. It was no wonder why this card was giving her so much trouble.

"It's alright Marisa, it's over… The card ended…"

Reacting on some kind of instinct, I went over to Marisa to calm her down.

"What you saw wasn't really happening… It was an illusion, designed to play on nightmares…"

I continued talking with her for a few minutes, but it wasn't just to calm her down. It was also quieting my own mind, which nearly lost all sanity from what I saw myself doing.

_If that's what my spell cards are going to be, am I really a Dream Guardian? Or will I fall into the Nightmares?_

Marisa got up, and forfeit, for both of our sakes. If she didn't, I'd have to start up _Bloodlust Blade_ again…

_This is a powerful card… But the price is insanity… Hopefully, I won't have to use it again any time soon…_

* * *

><p><em><span>Misty Lake: Scarlet Devil Mansion: Gate, Sunset<span>_

"Kris?"

"Huh…?"

"How is it that you defeated Marisa? I never heard of anybody besides Reimu defeating her."

"Mind games. Playing with someone's nightmares is a powerful thing…"

"So that's what you did?"

"Yes, and what I plan on focusing on… Illusions, dreams, and nightmares… A true Dream Guardian… Corruption is just the beginning… Hopefully."

"That's really interesting… A guard and a gatekeeper… It's no wonder why you decided to… What the…? What are those things…?"

I looked over to the lake, where several shadowy creatures began to appear. I saw Shadow Heartless from Kingdom Hearts, Inglets from Metroid Prime 2, and various other enemies from other games that I couldn't remember at the time. Based on Meiling's expression, she saw something different.

"Meiling, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"If you mean several dozen thugs from the Human Village attacking, then yes."

"Okay, that's far from what I'm seeing. I see a bunch of enemies from video games."

"What?"

"Not important. These must be illusions, like what I used against Marisa, but out of my control…"

"Do they look easy to beat?"

"Yes."

"Let's see who can defeat more of them, then…"

"Sorry, but my enemies disappear in smoke when they lose. That won't work."

"Well, just keep swinging until there aren't any more."

"Works for me."

Meiling charged at some of the illusions, while I moved towards others. Fist and steel, only one good hit was needed to break them. Interestingly enough, Meiling's illusions showed themselves to me when she was near them… The same probably happened as I mowed down Shadows and Inglets. It didn't even take very long. After only a minute, we killed all the illusions.

"Well, that wasn't so bad… "

"I agree. Thugs are never a problem for someone like me, since I specialize in close combat."

"Meiling! Have you been keeping our guest from entering all this time?"

"S-Sakuya, it was his choice! He decided it would be better to-"

"I don't want any excuses."

Since Meiling couldn't use the excuse, I decided to pick up where she left off.

"I chose to stick around with her. If you want to yell at someone, yell at me."

Sakuya had nothing to say against that, so she turned to face me instead.

"So you didn't try to force your way through the gate, like everyone else?"

"She's just doing her job, and I was feeling lazy at the moment. It's a good thing I stuck around too, since Marisa tried to take some more books."

The Perfect Maid's eyes narrowed.

"And how, exactly, did you drive her away?"

"Mind games. A spell card that released both danmaku and scared the hell out of her… And me, unfortunately…"

"I'd like to see this spell card later… But Lady Patchouli and My Lady would like to speak with you first."

"Tell Remilia that I'm seeing Patchouli first… I've always had a fondness for books, so I prefer Patchouli over the Scarlet Devil."

"…Very well. I take it you know your way through the mansion, Fairykind?"

"That reference was already made, and I really doubt you know what it means, or where it's from."

Sakuya shut up at that point. And with that, I went into the SDM, where the fairies will guide me towards the Library… Maybe.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I'm really getting lazy… It took two weeks to write this, but only three days of actual writing. Hopefully, I'll see a reason to get back to writing seriously again. I want to go back to the time when I could just write an entire chapter in one day.<strong>

**Also, please point out any plot holes you see in the story. I almost made one with an inconsistency about the Shards used to break a seal (It should be obvious, but I won't say what seal quite yet, in case I didn't make it obvious enough.), and I'll try to fix it in the notes (inconsistencies) or in-story (missing details, though that might require Hand Waving/more plot holes. If the latter is the case, I might have to keep it, or readjust one of the parts in the story to fix it.)**

**Speaking of inconsistencies, I already had to fix one... Remember the chapter, Darkness Forgotten? The main antagonist said he'd destroy all dreams. I altered it so the goal was similar (He still favors nightmares over dreams), but allows for the goal in this chapter to make sense. Hopefully, I won't need to make any other changes...**


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